Hinton v. Deutsche Bank AG
Hinton v. Deutsche Bank AG
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM
The Fund Defendants in this subtrack have moved for reconsideration of the court’s denial of them motion to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claims under § 36(b) and § 48(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.
In urging the court to reverse its § 36(b) ruling, the defendants rely primarily on several recent decisions from the Southern District of New York, which dismissed § 36(b) claims based on allegations that mutual fund advisors charged excessive fees because they shared those fees with brokers who directed additional investors into the funds. See, e.g., In re Eaton Vance Mut. Funds Fee Litig., 380 F.Supp.2d 222, 236-38 (S.D.N.Y. 2005); In re Evergreen Mut. Funds Fee Litig., 423 F.Supp.2d 249, 257-59 (S.D.N.Y. 2006); In re Goldman Sachs Mut. Funds, 2006 WL 126772, at *8-10 (S.D.N.Y., Jan.17, 2006). These cases are not binding authority, involve distinguishable factual circumstances, and do not represent a consensus view. See Forsythe v. Sun Life Financial, Inc., 417 F.Supp.2d 100, 113-16 (D.Mass. 2006) (declining to dismiss § 36(b) claim based on virtually identical factual allegations).
For example, the plaintiffs in these cases did not claim that the so-called “shelf-space” or “revenue-sharing” schemes allowed advisors to earn fees off large sums of uninvested assets, as the plaintiffs allege here. Cf. Millenco v. MEVC Advisors, 2002 WL 31051604, at *2 (D.Del., Aug. 21, 2002) (declining to dismiss § 36(b) claim based in part on allegation that advisers received a substantial fee from uninvested cash). In addition, the Eaton Vance decision, which was followed by several other courts, found that the plaintiffs’ allegations amounted merely to a claim that the advisory fees were used for improper purposes, which is not actionable under § 36(b). See 380 F.Supp.2d at 237.
The factual allegations credited by Judge Motz in his Investor Class Opinion of August 25, 2005 sufficiently touch on “the relationship between the fees charged and the services rendered by the investment adviser” to survive dismissal at this stage. Migdal v. Rowe Price-Fleming Int’l Inc., 248 F.3d 321, 327 (4th Cir. 2001).
On the other hand, I will adopt Judge Motz’s ruling of May 30, 2006 (docket entry no. 2025, 04-MD-15863) and dismiss all claims under § 48(a) against defendants that did not actually receive the compensation targeted by the § 36(b) claims.
Counsel should submit a proposed implementing order within two weeks.
. These defendants are: Deutsche Bank AG, Deutsche Investment Management Americas, Inc., Deutsche Asset Management Investment Services, Ltd., Deutsche Asset Management, Inc., Investment Company Capital Corp., Scudder Distributors, Inc., Scudder Investments, Deutsche Asset Management, Thomas F. Eggers, and Richard T. Hale.
. To prevail, the plaintiffs ultimately will need to show that the advisers have charged "a fee so disproportionately large that it bears no reasonable relationship to the services ren
. In addition, as the Fund Defendants note, numerous district courts have recently found that § 48(a) does not create a private right of action. See, e.g., Eaton Vance, 380 F.Supp.2d at 231-33; Forsythe, 417 F.Supp.2d at 105-08.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In re MUTUAL FUNDS INVESTMENT LITIGATION In re Excelsior, Federated, Scudder and AMCAP [Scudder subtrack] Hinton v. Deutsche Bank AG
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published