Foreign-Cubed Securities Actions and the Supreme Court: A Petition for Certiorari Is Filed In Morrison v. Nat'l Austl. Bank (Introduction)

In the coming weeks and months, The Race to the Bottom will feature a series of posts that will discuss the petition for certiorari, merit, and amicus briefs filed to the Supreme Court in Morrison v. Nat'l Austl. Bank Ltd., No. 07-0583-cv, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 21986.  Morrison is an example of a “foreign cubed” securities case where the plaintiffs, defendants, and securities transactions were all foreign in nature.  The case tests the reach of U.S. securities laws in transnational cases.  We will also post on the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court when it is decided.

In a post by Gregg Emmel, this blog covered the Second Circuit’s decision in Morrision.  The court dismissed the claims brought by Australian investors against National Australia Bank for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.  The ruling held that the majority of the fraud took place in Australia rather than the United States; and therefore, they did not have jurisdiction to hear the merits of the case.  The Second Circuit declined to outline a bright line test for similar cases; rather it continued the case-by-case analysis that has split the circuits on this issue in the past.

The first post in the series will focus on the petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.

The primary materials for this post are available on the DU Corporate Governance website.