Labaton Sucharow LLP serves as Lead Counsel for a class of non-U.S. purchasers in In re National Australia Bank Securities Litigation, No. 03-CV-6537 (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York) before the Honorable Barbara S. Jones. In August 2003, the case was brought on behalf of a class of purchasers of the securities of National Australia Bank Ltd. (“NAB”) alleging that Defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by disseminating materially false and misleading statements concealing fraud by NAB at its wholly-owned United States subsidiary, HomeSide Lending, Inc. (“HomeSide”).

The alleged accounting fraud occurred entirely in Florida where HomeSide was based, but the fraudulent financial information was published in NAB’s financial statements that were disseminated from Australia. On October 26, 2006, the District Court dismissed the Complaint, finding that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the claims of non-U.S. purchasers of NAB securities purchased on non-U.S. exchanges. Labaton Sucharow appealed the decision and argued the appeal on July 18, 2008.

On September 17, 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) submitted a significant brief in support of non-U.S. purchasers in the action against NAB. The SEC filed an amicus brief recommending that the Australian plaintiffs in this case should be able to utilize the U.S. court system for an effective means to redress their losses.

The SEC's position is important for non-U.S. shareholders because it affirms that they may avail themselves of the U.S. federal securities laws and federal courts to pursue defendants who engaged in securities fraud when the fraudulent conduct in the United States was material to the scheme’s success and a substantial part of the fraud.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has not yet decided the appeal.