(Office of the State Treasurer) – CARSON CITY – On Friday, the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed the District Court’s decision granting summary judgment in WOODLANDS COMM. BANK VS. STATE OF NEV. BD. OF FINANCE. Woodlands was previously known as Lehman Brothers’ Commercial Bank. The New York-based firm had initially asked for $30 million from the State, but the Court upheld the Treasurer’s position that Lehman’s downgrade in credit status and subsequent failure to find an assignee of its contract with the State gave the State of Nevada the right to terminate the forward purchase agreement without any payment under the agreement. As a result, Nevada taxpayers owe no money to Woodlands due to the early termination. The decision was issued by a three-judge panel, consisting of Justices Saitta, Gibbons and Pickering and will become final absent a rehearing request.
Dan Schwartz
Nevada State Treasurer“On behalf of the State Treasurer’s Office and the Board of Finance, we are pleased with the Nevada Supreme Court’s decision,” said State Treasurer Dan Schwartz. “I would also like to commend the Attorney General’s Office for their sound legal advice in this case. We hope this ruling is the end of it. Finally.”
No release for Western Union’s lawyers
In other legal news impacting the State Treasurer’s Office, Treasurer Dan Schwartz refused to sign a release proposed by Western Union in a case involving uncollected money from wire transfers held by Western Union. On the Treasurer’s behalf, Senior Deputy Attorney General Shane Chesney wrote, “the Settlement Agreement would deprive Nevada of its statutory right to do an independent accounting of unclaimed property. [It] is against sound public policy in that it does not adequately protect the right of the owners of the property, instead directing funds from rightful owners to attorney’s fees and other costs.”
Treasurer Schwartz commented, “this money belongs to the people of Nevada, not Western Union’s lawyers. End of story.”
Nevada’s State Treasurer is Dan Schwartz. The State Treasurer’s Office administers the Gov. Guinn Millennium Scholarship, Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program, and the state’s 529 College Savings Plans programs. It safeguards Nevada’s unclaimed property, and ensures the state’s investments and debt obligations are managed prudently and in the best interest of the people of Nevada. Visit its website at www.NevadaTreasurer.gov.
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