A US appeals court threw out the dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit accusing 10 large banks of overcharging investors on corporate bonds, saying the trial judge should have been recused because his wife owned stock in one of the banks.
Liman, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, was assigned the lawsuit in April 2020 and dismissed it with prejudice in October 2021, three months after his wife sold $15,000 of Bank of America stock.
The banks said Liman’s failure to uncover his conflict didn’t require recusal or reviving the case.
But the appeals court found a “legitimate risk” that similar violations could undermine public confidence in the judicial process.
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts highlighted in his 2021 annual report on the judiciary a need for judges to be vigilant about financial conflicts.
Persons:
Judge Lewis Liman “, ”, Liman, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Wells, Donald Trump, Valerie Caproni, John Roberts, George Zelcs, Judge Caproni
Organizations:
US, Bank of America, Street Journal, Barclays, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, NatWest, ” Bank of America
Locations:
Manhattan, overcharging