One of the issues in the Enron securities class action has been whether the bankruptcy examiner, who prepared a report that was strongly critical of the role of Enron’s banks and auditors in the collapse of the company, would be required to produce documents or testify in the case.
According to a report in the Houson Chronicle, Judge Melinda Harmon (S.D. of Tx.) has ordered “not that [the bankruptcy examiner] provide evidence to those suing in the civil lawsuits before her, but that the financial institutions themselves turn over copies of all deposition transcripts or sworn statements relating to the Enron bankruptcy.” The production must be completed by March 29.
Quote of note: “[T]he statements have already been given to Enron, its debtors and its creditors committee, and they are referenced at length in the public examiner’s report. [Judge Harmon] said fairness dictates that all parties in the would-be class-action suits before her have the information. ‘The parties seeking the statements could, they acknowledge, retake depositions of the individuals whose statements and depositions were taken by the examiner, but the costs would be enormous,’ Harmon noted.”
The 10b-5 Daily 