New York, Aug 11 - A federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Bank of America and Citigroup Inc brought on behalf of buyers of shares in Parmalat, the Italian dairy company that collapsed in 2003.
The class of investors claimed millions of dollars in damages accusing the banks of misleading them about Parmalat shares that they were sold.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of Manhattan said that "while plaintiffs maintain that some members of the alleged class bought from BoA in private placements, they concede that none of the named plaintiffs themselves did so.
"This is fatal to the plaintiffs' argument," said the ruling dated Aug. 7 and made public on Monday.
The lead attorney for the plaintiffs did not immediately return a call for comment.
The judge's order said U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year "made plain that investors must show reliance upon a defendant's own deceptive conduct before that defendant, otherwise a secondary actor, may be found primarily liable.
"Plaintiffs' evidence falls well short of that standard."
Independent Italian law firm Pavia e Ansaldo was also a defendant in the suit, one of a series brought following the collapse of Parmalat SpA in Europe's largest bankruptcy. The dairy emerged from bankruptcy in 2005.
Bank of America spokesman Timothy Gilles welcomed the order.
"We believed from the outset that this case was unfounded, and we completely agree with Judge Kaplan's decision that dismisses the case entirely," Gilles said in a statement.
In July 2007, the same judge dismissed claims by foreign investors in Parmalat SpA against two banks and two auditors.