Welcome to the Deutsche Bank Securities Settlement Website

This website has been established to provide general information related to the proposed settlement of the lawsuit known as In re Deutsche Bank AG Securities Litigation, Master File No. 1:09-cv-01714-GHW-RWL (the "Litigation"), pending before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the “Court”). The case has been assigned to the Honorable Gregory H. Woods. The capitalized terms used on this website, and not otherwise defined, shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Stipulation of Settlement dated November 11, 2019, which can be found and downloaded by clicking on the Case Documents tab above.

The individuals that lead the Litigation, Norbert G. Kaess and Maria Farruggio, are referred to as the “Class Plaintiffs.” The company and individuals, Deutsche Bank AG (“Defendant” or “Deutsche Bank” or the “Company”), Deutsche Bank Contingent Capital LLC II, Deutsche Bank Contingent Capital Trust II, Deutsche Bank Capital Funding Trust IX, Deutsche Bank Capital Funding LLC IX, Deutsche Bank Capital Funding LLC X, Deutsche Bank Capital Funding Trust X, Deutsche Bank Contingent Capital LLC III, Deutsche Bank Contingent Capital Trust III, Deutsche Bank Contingent Capital LLC V, Deutsche Bank Contingent Capital Trust V, Deutsche Bank Capital Funding LLC VIII, Deutsche Bank Capital Funding Trust VIII, Josef Ackermann, Jonathan Blake, Hugo Banziger, Anthony Di Iorio, Martin Edelmann, Hermann-Josef Lamberti, Rainer Rauleder, Peter Sturzinger, and Marco Zimmermann (collectively the “DB Defendants”), and UBS Securities LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, individually and as successor by merger to defendant Banc of America Securities LLC, Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC (n/k/a Wells Fargo Securities, LLC), Morgan Stanley & Co., and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (collectively the “Underwriter Defendants”), being sued are collectively called the Defendants.

The Court appointed the law firm of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP (“Robbins Geller”) as Plaintiffs’ Counsel to represent Class Members.

WHAT IS THIS LAWSUIT ABOUT?

On February 24, 2009, the first of six putative class action complaints was filed. Following consolidation of the complaints, on November 23, 2009, the Court appointed Class Plaintiffs and Lead Counsel and directed the filing of a Consolidated Amended Complaint (“CAC”). The CAC, filed on January 25, 2010, alleged violations of §§11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) by Deutsche Bank and certain individual defendants, underwriters, and the auditor relating to a Form F-3 Registration Statement and Prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 10, 2006, and various prospectus supplements to that Registration Statement (collectively, the “Offering Materials”) used to conduct the Offerings.

Defendants moved to dismiss the CAC on March 26, 2010. On August 19, 2011, the Court granted with prejudice the motion to dismiss with respect to Plaintiffs’ §§11, 12(a)(2) and 15 claims relating to the October 2006 Offering. The Court denied Defendants’ motions with respect to the remaining offerings.

On August 23, 2011, the Second Circuit issued an opinion in Fait v. Regions Financial Corp., 655 F.3d 105 (2d Cir. 2011) (“Fait”). Defendants subsequently moved for reconsideration of the Court’s August 19, 2011 Order, arguing that Fait constituted an intervening change in the governing law. On August 9, 2012, the Court granted Defendants’ motion to reconsider and dismissed the CAC with prejudice and without leave to amend.

Plaintiffs appealed the Court’s August 9, 2012 order, and on July 16, 2014, the Second Circuit affirmed the Court’s dismissal of the action. Plaintiffs then filed a petition for a writ for certiorari on February 13, 2014. While Plaintiffs’ petition was pending, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Omnicare, Inc. v. Laborers District Council Construction Industry Pension Fund, 135 S. Ct. 1318 (2015) (“Omnicare”).

On June 8, 2015, the Supreme Court granted Plaintiffs’ petition for certiorari, vacating the Judgment and remanding “for further consideration in light of [Omnicare].” On July 21, 2015, the Second Circuit recalled the Mandate, vacated the Court’s Judgment, and remanded the case for further proceedings which “may, but shall not necessarily, include allowing plaintiffs to replead their causes of action.”

On July 27, 2015, Defendants filed a motion requesting the Court to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint and deny leave to amend. On August 7, 2015, Plaintiffs informed the Court of its intention to request leave to file the Third Consolidated Amended Complaint (“TCAC”) to incorporate the new Omnicare pleading standard. On September 15, 2015, the Court denied Defendants’ motion and granted Plaintiffs leave to file the TCAC.

The TCAC, filed on October 15, 2015, alleged that Deutsche Bank, certain individuals and the underwriters violated §§11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act by, inter alia, misrepresenting or omitting material facts in the Offering Materials. The TCAC specifically alleged that Deutsche Bank omitted disclosures related to exposures to $20 billion of RMBS and CDOs backed by risky mortgages and its losses on RMBS during 2007. The TCAC alleged that Deutsche Bank failed to disclose the true extent of the risks facing the bank.

Defendants moved to dismiss the TCAC on December 14, 2015. On July 25, 2016, the Court upheld Plaintiffs’ claims concerning the November 2007 and February 2008 offerings with respect to the allegations regarding Item 303 and Item 503 of Regulation S-K, while dismissing claims stemming from the other Offerings. Defendants filed their Answer on October 24, 2016.

Defendants moved to deny class certification on February 21, 2018. Plaintiffs filed an opposition to Defendants’ motion and a motion to certify a class for both the November 2007 and February 2008 offerings on March 7, 2018. On October 2, 2018, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to certify the class and named Lead Plaintiffs Norbert G. Kaess and Maria G. Farruggio as class representatives for the surviving claims concerning the November 2007 and February 2008 offerings.

Upon the conclusion of all discovery in April 2019, in an effort to resolve the Litigation, Plaintiffs and Defendants engaged the services of former U.S. District Judge Layn R. Phillips, an experienced mediator, and participated in a full-day in-person mediation session with Judge Phillips on May 1, 2019. The parties were unable to reach an agreement on May 1, 2019, and the Litigation continued.

Defendants moved for summary judgment on July 31, 2019. Shortly before Plaintiffs’ opposition was due, the parties engaged in additional settlement discussions, which culminated with the parties agreeing to settle the Litigation for $18,500,000, subject to the terms of a Stipulation of Settlement and approval by the Court.

The Class includes all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired the 7.35% Noncumulative Trust Preferred Securities of Deutsche Bank Capital Funding Trust X (“7.35% Preferred Securities”), and/or the 7.60% Trust Preferred Securities of Deutsche Bank Contingent Capital Trust III (“7.60% Preferred Securities”), pursuant or traceable to the public offerings that commenced on or about November 6, 2007 and February 14, 2008. Excluded from the Class are Defendants, the officers and directors of Deutsche Bank and the Underwriter Defendants at all relevant times, members of their immediate families and their legal representatives, heirs, successors or assigns, and any entity in which Defendants have or had a controlling interest. Also excluded from the Class are Class Members that validly and timely exclude themselves from the Class pursuant to the requirements described in the Notice of Pendency and Proposed Settlement of Class Action (the "Notice"). The Notice can be found on the Case Documents tab above.

WHAT DOES THE SETTLEMENT PROVIDE?

The Court has not decided in favor of Defendants or in favor of Class Plaintiffs. Instead, both sides agreed to the Settlement to avoid the distraction, costs and risks of further litigation, and Class Plaintiffs agreed to the Settlement in order to ensure that Class Members will receive compensation.

The Settlement provides that, in exchange for the release of the Released Claims and dismissal of the Litigation, Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay (or cause to be paid) $18.5 million in cash to be distributed after taxes, fees, and expenses, pro rata, to Class Members who send in or submit a valid Proof of Claim pursuant to the Court-approved Plan of Allocation. The Plan of Allocation is described in more detail at the end of the Notice.

Although the information in this website is intended to assist you, it does not replace the information contained in the relevant case documents found on the Case Documents tab above. We recommend that you read the relevant case documents carefully and in their entirety.

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT

IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINES