Despite Second Shot At Ascertainability Post-Petrobras, Renewed Motion To Certify Falls Flat On Predominance Grounds

Royal Park, an investment company, recently suffered its second defeat in its attempt to certify a class action against Deutsche Bank regarding bond-like instruments collateralized by mortgages held in trusts entitling instrument-holders to the mortgages' cash flow for various contractual and common law claims. The Southern District of New York denied Royal Park's first motion to certify on the grounds the proposed class was insufficiently ascertainable, finding it was not administratively feasible to identify individual investors in the trust instruments. After revising its proposed class definition, Royal Park filed a renewed motion to certify, which the court again denied in the present opinion.