On May 26, 2017, defendant-trustee Wells Fargo Bank N.A. (“Wells Fargo“) filed four third-party complaints against BlackRock Advisors, LLC, Pacific Investment Management Company, LLC, Teachers Advisors, LLC, TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC, and PGIM, Inc. (together, the “Third-Party Defendants“) in the BlackRock Allocation Target Shares: Series S Portfolio, et al. v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., No. 1:14-cv-9371 (S.D.N.Y.) action. Wells Fargo’s complaints seek contribution from each Third-Party Defendant in the event that Wells Fargo is found liable on the investor-plaintiffs’ underlying claims. 

The plaintiffs who sued Wells Fargo allege that systemic, industry-wide problems with mortgage loan underwriting, servicing, and securitization were so well known in the industry that Wells Fargo breached its fiduciary duties as trustee by failing to take action to protect the plaintiffs’ investments in the RMBS at issue in light of that information. Wells Fargo’s complaints allege that the Third-Party Defendants were equally informed of the problems facing the loans underlying RMBS, and that, as investment advisors retained to advise, manage, and direct the plaintiffs’ investments, including in the RMBS at issue, the Third-Party Defendants also owed a fiduciary duty to the plaintiffs. Accordingly, the complaints assert that, to the extent that Wells Fargo is found to have breached its fiduciary duties to the plaintiffs by failing to protect their interests in the RMBS at issue despite publicly available information concerning their underlying loans, the Third-Party Defendants likewise breached their fiduciary duties to plaintiffs by directing and maintaining plaintiffs’ investments in the RMBS in light of that same information. Wells Fargo seeks contribution from the Third-Party Defendants to the extent that each Defendant is culpable for any judgment obtained by the plaintiffs. BlackRock Complaint. Pacific Investment Management Complaint. PGIM Complaint. Teachers Advisors Complaint.