In re Herald, Primeo and Thema Funds Securities Litigation

Filing 38

MOTION to Appoint Foxton Group to serve as lead plaintiff(s)., MOTION to Consolidate Cases 09cv289, 09cv2302; 09cv2558., MOTION to Appoint Counsel. Document filed by Foxton Group.(Linkh, Gregory)

Repex Ventures S.A v. Madoff et al

Doc. 3

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK --------------------------------------------------------REPEX VENTURES S.A., on Behalf of Itself and All Others Similarly Situated, X : : : Plaintiff, : : v. : : BERNARD L. MADOFF; BERNARD L. : MADOFF INVESTMENT SECURITIES; : BANK MEDICI S.A.; SONJA KOHN; PETER : SCHEITHAUER; HERALD USA FUND; : HERALD LUXEMBURG FUND; BANK : AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT; UNICREDIT : S.A.; PRIMEO SELECT FUNDS; PIONEER : ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS; THEMA : INTERNATIONAL FUND PLC; ERNST & : YOUNG LLP, and HSBC HOLDINGS PLC, : : Defendants. : --------------------------------------------------------X

Civil Action No.: 09-cv-00289-RMB

[Caption continued on the next page] THE FOXTON GROUP'S NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION TO CONSOLIDATE, TO BE APPOINTED LEAD PLAINTIFF AND FOR APPROVAL OF ITS SELECTION OF LEAD AND LIAISON COUNSEL

Dockets.Justia.com

--------------------------------------------------------- X HORST LEONHARDT, on Behalf of Himself : and All Others Similarly Situated, : : Plaintiff, : : v. : : BERNARD L. MADOFF, BANK MEDICI : S.A., SONJA KOHN, PETER : SCHEITHAUER, HERALD USA FUND , : HERALD LUXEMBURG FUND, BANK : AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT, UNICREDIT : S.A., PRIMEO SELECT FUND, PRIMEO : EXECUTIVE FUND, PIONEER : ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS, THEMA : INTERNATIONAL FUND PLC, HELMUTH : E. FREY, FRIEDRICH PFEFFER, FRANCO : MUGNAI, ALBERTO BENBASSAT, : STEPHANE BENBASSAT, GENEVALOR, : BENBASSAT & CIE, DAVID T. SMITH, : GERALD J.P. BRADY, DANIEL : MORRISSEY, ERNST & YOUNG S.A., : ERNST & YOUNG GLOBAL LIMITED, : HSBC HOLDINGS PLC, HSBC : INSTITUTIONAL TRUST SERVICES : (IRELAND) LIMITED, HSBC SECURITIES : SERVICES (IRELAND) LIMITED, HSBC : SECURITIES SERVICES, S.A., : PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, : CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS, : PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS : INTERNATIONAL LIMITED and : FRIEHLING & HOROWITZ, : : Defendants. : --------------------------------------------------------- X

Civil Action No.: 09-cv-02032-UA

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Foxton Group , consisting of William Foxton, Neville Seymour Davis, and Chia-Hung Kao, hereby moves the Court for an Order: 1. consolidating the cases captioned Repex Ventures, S.A. v. Bernard L.

Madoff, et a l., No. 09-00289 ; Leonhardt v. Bernard L. Madoff, et al., No. 09-2032 ; and Perrone, et al v. Benbassat, et al., No. 09-cv-2558 (the "Actions"); 2. appointing the Foxton Group Lead Plaintiff of a class (the "Class") of all

purchasers or acquirers of the Medici Funds 1 between January 1, 2004 and December 10, 2008 (the "Class Period); and 3. approving the Foxton Group's selection of Johnson Bottini, LLP as Lead

Counsel and Murray, Frank & Sailer LLP as L iaison Counsel for the Class. The Foxton Group makes this motion based on the Memorandum of Law and Declaration of Gregory Linkh , both submitted herewith, and on all other pleadings, motions, and orders in the Actions. DATED: May 4, 2009 MURRAY, FRANK & SAILER LLP __________/s/______________________ Brian P. Murray (BM 9954) [e-mail] Gregory B. Linkh (GL 0477) [e-mail] 275 Madison Avenue, Suite 801 New York, New York 10016-1101 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone]

The "Med ici Funds" include the Thema Fund, the Primeo Select Fund, the Primeo Executive Fund, the Herald USA Fund, and the Herald Luxemburg Fund.

1

JOHNSON BOTTINI, LLP Francis A. Bottini, Jr. Albert Chang 655 West Broadway, Suite 1400 San Diego, California 92101 Telephone: [phone] Facsimile: [phone] Attorneys for the Foxton Group

2

DECLARATION OF SERVICE I am an attorney admitted to practice in this district. I hereby certify, under penalty of perjury, that on this 4th day of May, 2009, I caused a true and correct copy of the foregoing document to be served on the persons listed below, 1) through this court's ECF system, 2) by email, and/or 3) by causing a true copy thereof to be delivered by mail, postage prepaid: ERNST & YOUNG GLOBAL LIMITED Becket House, 1 Lambeth Palace Rd. London SE1 7EU, United Kingdom William P. Hammer, Esq. ERNST & YOUNG LLP 5 Times Square, 36th Floor New York, New York 10036-6530 Lawrence J. Zweifach, Esq. GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, NY 10166-0193 Steven J. Toll, Esq. Daniel S. Sommers, Esq. 1100 New York Avenue, N.W. Suite 500, West Tower Washington, DC 20005 Jacob Sabo, Esq. The Tower # 3 Daniel Frisch St. Tel Aviv, Israel GENEVALOR, BENBASSAT & CIE 7, rue Versonnex CH-1207 Geneva Switzerland FRIEHLING & HOROWITZ 4 High Tor Rd New City, NY 10956

Susan L. Saltzstein ([e-mail]) William J. O'Brien ([e-mail]) SKADDEN, ARPS, SLATE, MEAGHER & FLOM LLP Four Times Square New York, New York 10036-6522 Attorneys for Defendant Pioneer Alternative Investment Management Limited BERNARD L. MADOFF 885 Third Avenue New York, New York 10022 BANK MEDICI S.A. Operngasse 6/4 Vienna, 1010 Austria SONJA KOHN Operngasse 6/4 Vienna, 1010 Austria PETER SCHEITHAUER Operngasse 6/4 Vienna, 1010 Austria HERALD USA FUND Operngasse 614 Vienna, 1010 Austria HERALD LUXEMBURG FUND Operngasse 6/4 Vienna, 1010 Austria BANK AUSTRIA CREDITANSTALT 1010 Wien, Schottengasse 6-8 A-1010 Vienna Austria UNICREDIT S.A. Piazza Cordusio 20123 Milan Italy

PRIMEO SELECT FUND 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg PRIMEO EXECUTIVE FUND 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg THEMA INTERNATIONAL FUND PLC 3 George's Dock IFSC Dublin 1 Ireland ALBERTO BENBASSET 7, rue Versonnex CH-1207 Geneva Switzerland HELMUTH E. FREY Operngasse 6/4 Vienna, 1010 Austria FRIEDRICH PFEFFER WFE-Consulting Fuhrenweg 27 D-31515 Wunstorf Germany FRANCO MUGNAI Via Leone XIII_ n.27 1-20145 Milan Italy STEPHANE BENBASSAT 7, rue Versonnex CH-1207 Geneva Switzerland DAVID T. SMITH c/o Equus Asset Management Partners Bermudiana Arcade 27 Queen Street Hamilton HM 11 Bermuda

GERALD J. P. BRADY Birch Hollow Upper Kilmacud Road Dundrum Dublin 14 Ireland DANIEL MORRISSEY William Fry Solicitors Fitzwilton House Wilton Place Dublin 2 Ireland ERNST & YOUNG S.A. 7 Pare d'Activite Syrdall Munsbach L5365 Luxembourg HSBC HOLDINGS PLC c/o Chris Wilcockson Managing Director, HSS 40 Avenue Monterey B.P. 413, L-2014 Luxembourg HSBC INSTITUTIONAL TRUST SERVICES (IRELAND) LIMITED c/o Ronnie Griffin 1 Grand Canal Square Grand Canal Harbour Dublin 2 Ireland HSBC SECURITIES SERVICES (IRELAND) LIMITED c/o Rosemary Leahy 1 Grand Canal Square Grand Canal Harbour Dublin 2 Ireland

HSBC SECURITIES SERVICES, S.A. c/o Chris Wilcockson Managing Director, HSS 40 Avenue Monterey B.P. 413, L-2014 Luxembourg PRICE WATERHOUSECOOPERS, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS One Spencer Dock North Wall Quay Dublin 1 Ireland PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED 1 Embankment Place London WC2N 6RH United Kingdom PIONEER ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS 1 George's Quay Plaza George's Quay Dublin 2 Ireland WERNER TRIPOLT Operngasse 6/4 Vienna, 1010 Austria JOHN HOLLIWELL Operngasse 6/4 Vienna, 1010 Austria ALFRED SIMON 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg KARL E. KANIAK 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg

JOHANNES P. SPALEK 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg NIGEL H. FIELDING 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg JAMES E. O'NEILL 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg ALBERTO LA ROCCA 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg DECLAN MURRAY 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg URSULA RADEL-LESZCZYNSKI 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg MICHAEL WHEATON 13 Rue Goethe, B P 413 L-2014 Luxembourg BA WORLDWIDE MANAGEMENT LTD c/o HWR Services P.O. Box 71 Road Town Tortola B.V.I. HERALD C. NOGRASEK c/o HWR Services P.O. Box 71 Road Town Tortola B.V.I.

HANNES SALETA c/o HWR Services P.O. Box 71 Road Town Tortola B.V.I. NICOLA A. CORSETTI c/o HWR Services P.O. Box 71 Road Town Tortola B.V.I. BANK OF BERMUDA (LUXEMBOURG) S.A. 6 Front St. Hamilton, HM 11 Bermuda BANK OF BERMUDA P.O. Box 513 GT HSBC House 68 West Bay Road Grand Cayman Cayman Islands

________________S/______________ Thomas J. Kennedy