Shareholder Claims Against Vivendi Dismissed

On January 27, 2012, Judge Richard J. Holwell of the Southern District of New York dismissed all claims against Vivendi, S.A. brought by individual plaintiffs who purchased Vivendi ordinary shares on foreign exchanges. In his opinion, Judge Holwell cited the June 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd, which altered then-prevailing Second Circuit law concerning the scope of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder) by holding that Section 10(b) does not apply extraterritorially. The individual plaintiffs had alleged that Vivendi misled shareholders about its financial condition between 2000 and 2002. The same Southern District of New York court previously applied Morrison to the Vivendi class action litigation in a decision dated February 17, 2011, dismissing the claims of the class action plaintiffs who purchased Vivendi ordinary shares. Cravath has represented Vivendi in various securities litigation since 2002.

The Cravath team included Of Counsel Paul C. Saunders and partners Daniel Slifkin and Yonatan Even.