An issue that has been raised with seemingly increased frequency as of late in US securities class actions is the existence of, and occasion predominance of non-US investors in securities class actions filed in the US courts.

The issue often crops up as noted by The D&O Diary at the lead plaintiff stage, and even at the initial complaint stage. But it doesn't disappear, instead popping up again at the motion to dismiss stage and again at the class certification stage.

(Side note - that seems to be enough stages to have a bona-fide Securities Litigation Palooza)

It is the class certification stage that interests us today, as earlier this month, Judge Cote partially granted and partially denied a motion to certify the class in the SCOR Holding (Switzerland) AG (nee Converium), litigation.

In the Converium litigation, Judge Cote certified a class that included:

- US residents who purchased Converium shares on the Swiss Exchange (SWX); or
- Any person who purchased Converium American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") on the NYSE.

Judge Cote specifically denied certification to that portion of the putative class that consisted of non-US investors that purchased shares of Converium (a non-US company) on a non-US Exchange. Such a class of foreign purchasers who bought a foreign issuer's securities on a foreign exchange is known as an "f-cubed class."

Only time will tell if we see the same result in Converium that we saw in Vivendi, namely dozens and dozens of large institutional investors filing individual or group actions in the US courts.