If you are an investor in the Soundview Home Loan Trust Asset 2007-OPT1 (“Soundview Trust”) who a) purchased Eligible Certificates in the initial offering or purchased on the secondary market from May 4, 2007 through and including August 27, 2007 (the “Eligible Purchase Period”), and b) held the Eligible Certificates through August 27, 2007, you may be entitled to a Distribution Payment from the RBS Securities Inc. Fair Fund.
Background
On November 7, 2013, the SEC brought suit against Defendant RBS Securities Inc., formerly known as Greenwich Capital Markets, Inc. In its Complaint, the SEC alleged that RBS misrepresented and omitted certain material facts in promoting its $2.2 billion offering of a subprime residential mortgage-backed security. Specifically, the SEC alleged that RBS misled investors about the quality and safety of their investments by claiming that the subprime loans backing the multi-billion dollar offering were “generally” in compliance with the lender’s underwriting guidelines when, in fact, RBS knew or should have known at the time that almost 30% of the loans backing the offering deviated so much from the lender’s underwriting guidelines that they should have been kicked out of the offering entirely.
Pursuant to the Final Judgment as to Defendant RBS Securities Inc. (the “Final Judgment”) dated November 25, 2013, RBS consented to entry of a judgment for violations of Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §§77q(a)(2) and (a)(3), and agreed to pay disgorgement of $80,352,639, prejudgment interest of $25,190,552 and a civil penalty of $48,211,583. The Final Judgment provided for the SEC to hold all funds paid, together with interest and income earned thereon (collectively, the “Fund”), pending further Court order.
On May 21, 2015, the Court entered an order that established the Fair Fund, pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended, for the monies paid by Defendant and appointed Garden City Group, LLC (“GCG”) as the Distribution Agent (the “Appointment Order”). GCG has since been acquired by Epiq Class Action and Claims Solutions, Inc.
The Defendant has paid a total of $153,754,774.00 and has fully satisfied its judgment. The Fair Fund has been deposited at the United States Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service (“BFS”) for investment. It is not anticipated that the Fair Fund will receive additional funds, other than accumulated interest and earnings from investments.