On June 16, 2009, a purported class action on behalf of a proposed class of pre-need contract holders,David Tipsword as Trustee of Mildred E. Tipsword Trust, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. I.F.D.A. Services Inc., et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against the Company, among other defendants. The complaint alleged that the Company breached purported fiduciary duties and committed negligence and seeks compensatory and punitive damages, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and costs. The court denied the Company’s motion to dismiss.
On June 30, 2009, a purported class action on behalf of a proposed class of funeral directors,Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home, Inc., et al. v. MLPF&S, et al., was filed in the Illinois Circuit Court, Cook County, Illinois, alleging that the Company and MLLA, among other defendants, committed consumer fraud, civil conspiracy, unjust enrichment, and conversion. The Company and MLLA removed the complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and the case was ultimately transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. On November 9, 2010, plaintiff filed a third amended complaint, which added new parties, including MLBTC, and additional claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence and aiding and abetting fiduciary duty against the Company and MLLA, and breach of fiduciary duty and negligence against MLBTC. The third amended complaint sought disgorgement and remittance of all commissions, premiums, fees and compensation; an accounting; compensatory damages; pre-judgment and post-judgment interest; and reasonable attorneys’ and experts’ fees and costs. The court denied MLBTC’s motion to dismiss and permitted the Company and MLLA to withdraw their motions to dismiss.
On December 9, 2010, a purported class action on behalf of a proposed class of funeral directors,Pettett Funeral Home, Ltd., et al. v. MLPF&S, et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The allegations and relief sought in thePettett matter were virtually identical to the claims inClancy-Gernon.
On July 28, 2010, Charles G. Kurrus, III, P.C., a funeral director and owner of a funeral home, filed an action in the Illinois Circuit Court, St. Clair County, against the Company, MLLA and MLBTC, among others, including present and former employees. The complaint, entitledCharles F. Kurrus, III, P.C. v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., et al., asserted causes of action for breach of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and civil conspiracy against all defendants; breach of fiduciary duty against the Company and MLBTC; and negligence and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty against the Company. The complaint sought declaratory relief; disgorgement of all commissions, fees and revenues received by the Company, MLLA and MLBTC; pre-judgment and post-judgment interest; an accounting; and attorneys’ fees.
On February 15, 2012, the parties to the above-referenced litigations executed a settlement agreement to fully resolve the claims asserted in the class action litigations and theKurrus litigation, and fully release and bar any civil claims against the Company, its employees or affiliates with respect to the IFDA pre-need trust. The settlement agreement provided for a payment by the Company in an amount not material to its results of operations (which amount was fully accrued as of December 31, 2011). On June 12, 2012, the court entered a final order approving the class action settlement and entered judgments dismissing the three class action lawsuits (Tipsword,Clancy-Vernon andPettett) with prejudice. On August 2, 2012, the court inKurrus dismissed the matter with prejudice.
In re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation
ML&Co, the Company, including BAS, and certain of their subsidiaries, along with other underwriters, and various issuers and others, were named as defendants in a number of putative class action lawsuits that were consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York asIn re Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation. Plaintiffs contended, among other things, that defendants failed to make certain required disclosures in the registration statements and prospectuses for applicable offerings regarding alleged agreements with institutional investors that tied allocations in certain offerings to the purchase orders by those investors in the aftermarket. Plaintiffs alleged that such agreements allowed defendants to manipulate the price of the securities sold in these offerings in violation of Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), and SEC rules promulgated thereunder. The parties agreed to settle the matter, for which the court granted final approval, in an amount that was not material to the Company’s results of operations. Certain putative class members filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit seeking reversal of the final approval. On August 25, 2011, the district court, on remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, dismissed the objection by the last remaining putative class member, concluding that he was not a class member. On January 9, 2012, that objector dismissed with prejudice an appeal of the court’s dismissal pursuant to a settlement agreement. On November 28, 2011, an objector whose appeals were dismissed by the Second Circuit filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court that was rejected as procedurally defective. On January 17, 2012, the Supreme Court advised the objector that the petition was untimely and should not be resubmitted to the Supreme Court.
-97-