Federal Magistrate Recommends Court Order Diligence Firm To Respond To RMBS Working Group Subpoena

RMBS Enforcement

On November 11, a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut recommended that the District Court grant the U.S. Attorney’s motion, filed on behalf of the federal-state RMBS Working Group, to enforce a subpoena seeking information and documents from a firm that performed due-diligence work on mortgage loans and loan pools for numerous financial institutions. U.S. v. Clayton Holdings, No. 3:13mc116 (D. Conn. Nov. 11, 2013). In its opposition, the diligence firm objected to the subpoena as a “fishing expedition” that would require it to produce information for all 193 of its clients, even after it has cooperated as a third-party witness in connection with 16 companies the Working Group has identified as subjects of its RMBS investigations. Generally, the magistrate determined that the government’s request was not overly broad and burdensome, and recommended that the court order the firm to produce, for the period 2005 through 2007, (i) its entire database and all data used, maintained, or accessed in connection with due diligence services on mortgage loans and mortgage loan pools, and (ii) all communications, including e-mails, instant messages, or Bloomberg messages, concerning the provision of due diligence services on mortgage loans and mortgage loan pools. The recommended ruling does restrict the response to information and documents related to work performed for specific financial institution clients. The parties have until November 25 to object to the recommendation.