N.Y. Federal Judge Refuses to Compel Arbitration of Securities Fraud Claims

NEW YORK — Securities fraud claims brought against a bank by investors are not arbitrable because a reading of the two arbitration clauses together establishes that the parties did not intend to obligate the investors to arbitrate, a New York federal judge has ruled.

On Jan. 12, Judge Jesse M. Furman of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York further found that the court, rather than an arbitrator, must resolve the threshold question of arbitrability because the parties did not “clearly and unmistakably” agree otherwise.

Between 2010 and 2012, plaintiffs Atlantica Holdings Inc., Baltica Investment Holding …