This lawsuit stemmed from an accounting fraud at Regions, carried out during the 2008-2009 financial crisis in order to keep the company from recognizing huge losses for bad real estate loans. After an extensive investigation, Mr. Brown and his team filed a securities fraud lawsuit that caught the eye of the SEC enforcement division. While Mr. Brown’s securities fraud class action was pursued over a period of years, the SEC and banking regulators began conducting their own investigations.
As the case proceeded to trial, Regions fought to keep it away from a jury, going so far as to appeal the class certification ruling to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal. Mr. Brown’s team won a complete victory on appeal. Local 703 v. Regions Fin. Corp, 762 F.3d 1248, 1252 (11th Cir.2014). As the parties began preparing for trial, Regions settled the class action for $90 million, and settled with the SEC and banking regulators for another $50 million.
