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Civil Procedure Keyed to Moliterno, 3rd Ed.
Slayton v. American Express Co.
Citation:
460 F.3d 215 (2006)Facts
American Express Co. is a publicly traded financial services corporation whose subsidiary, American Express Financial Advisors (AEFA), invested heavily in high-yield, high-risk instruments including junk bonds and collateralized debt obligations totaling $3.5 billion. Beginning in 1999, default rates in the high-yield bond market increased significantly. Despite this deterioration, Amex continued to represent its investments as conservative and its asset quality as strong. In the fourth quarter of 2000, Amex announced a $49 million write-down, followed by a $185 million write-down in April 2001, with assurances that future losses would be substantially lower. However, in July 2001, Amex announced a $826 million pre-tax charge, with executives admitting they had not fully comprehended the risks. Plaintiffs filed suit alleging securities fraud based on misrepresentations about the portfolio’s risk, lack of risk management controls, and improper valuation methods that violated Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
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