Review of Class Certification Denied in UBS Puerto Rico Case

Skadden successfully defeated an attempted interlocutory appeal of an order denying class certification in a putative securities class action brought against UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico and other defendants. The plaintiffs sought to certify a class of thousands of investors who purchased closed-end mutual funds that primarily invested in Puerto Rico securities. The funds experienced significant losses when the market for Puerto Rico government bonds collapsed in 2013. On March 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied the plaintiffs' petition for interlocutory review, finding that the district court's order denying class certification was not sufficiently questionable to warrant immediate appellate review.