Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

SLUSA v. Securities Act of 1933 — Is Concurrent State Jurisdiction History?

Does SLUSA mandate exclusive federal jurisdiction over class actions brought solely under the Securities Act of 1933 (i.e., which assert no state law claims), or does the Securities Act’s provision for concurrent and unremovable state court jurisdiction control? There is a split among the district courts that have considered this issue. On Monday of this week, Judge Freda L. Wolfson of the District of New Jersey held that SLUSA prevails and federal court jurisdiction is exclusive. "In amending the first sentence of [15 U.S.C.] section 77v(a), Congress replaced concurrent federal jurisdiction with exclusive federal jurisdiction over 'covered class actions ... brought to enforce any liability or duty created by [the Securities Act].'" Rovner v. Vonage, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8656 (D.N.J. Feb. 5, 2007).

Share this article:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Recent Posts

Archives