Financial Torts & Commercial Litigation

We currently represent retail investors in cases against Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Ameriprise, LPL Financial, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Charles Schwab, Raymond James, and E*TRADE. The complaints allege that these broker-dealers breached fiduciary and contractual duties by sweeping idle client balances into affiliated bank accounts paying de minimis interest—while retaining the spread for their own benefit. Working with former SEC Commissioner Robert J. Jackson Jr. and other leading experts, we seek to recover the monies wrongfully diverted from accountholders.

BLB&G secured more than $2 billion in recoveries for over 30 institutional investors that suffered substantial losses in Allianz Global Investors’ Structured Alpha Funds—an options-based strategy Allianz marketed as “market-neutral” and “downside-protected.” Acting quickly after the Funds’ collapse in early 2020, our Case Development & Client Advisory Group unearthed evidence that Allianz had sharply deviated from its stated mandate and failed to implement promised hedging.

BLB&G filed the first complaint, was appointed liaison counsel in more than 20 related actions in the Southern District of New York, and coordinated discovery, expert analysis, and settlement negotiations across the docket. Through rigorous reconstruction of the Funds’ derivatives positions and presentation of compelling fiduciary- and contract-based claims, BLB&G delivered an unparalleled result that remains one of the most significant recoveries ever obtained in a complex options-strategy dispute.

Further information is available on the Allianz case page.

On behalf of institutional investors participating in Northern Trust’s securities-lending program, BLB&G alleged imprudent reinvestment of loan collateral in high-risk, long-term instruments that were inconsistent with program guidelines. Following discovery and motion practice, we negotiated individual settlements and class-wide recoveries exceeding $28 million, together with programmatic changes to protect future participants.

After the 2008 financial crisis, BLB&G identified—and promptly filed—class actions asserting claims overlooked by class counsel in parallel securities fraud litigations. By focusing on misstatements in the banks’ bond and preferred-share offerings, we secured more than $2 billion in aggregate recoveries for institutional investors before critical statutes of limitation expired.

BLB&G prosecuted consolidated ERISA claims alleging that State Street Bank & Trust and State Street Global Advisors failed to manage the Bond Funds prudently during the 2007 credit turmoil. After reviewing more than 13 million pages of documents and taking over 30 depositions, we achieved an $89.75 million settlement—one of the largest ERISA fixed-income recoveries of its era.

When several institutional clients incurred losses on the $2 billion “Markov” synthetic CDO, BLB&G performed a forensic review revealing that Barclays had packaged the vehicle with toxic assets misaligned with marketing disclosures. We advised clients on timely claims under U.S. and foreign law, preserving their rights and laying the groundwork for confidential recoveries.