With trial set to begin next month, the Securities and Exchange Commission was dealt setbacks in its fraud case against the people and companies behind the Reserve Primary Fund, a money market fund that lost much of its $62 billion in value in 2008.
In a 13-page order Friday, U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in New York ruled the defendants can argue at trial that they relied on advice from Willkie Farr & Gallagher when they allegedly misled investors about the fund’s risks two years ago. Gardephe also denied an SEC request to present as evidence memos Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr prepared about RPF’s downfall.
