By Karen Freifeld
NEW YORK, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The judge in a case over the
restructuring of bond insurer MBIA said her decision was
"getting there," but gave no further indication on when she
would rule.
"Trust me, I dream about your decision," Justice Barbara
Kapnick told the lawyers in the case, who were in her courtroom
for a related proceeding on Thursday. "It's taken longer than I
would have liked."
Kapnick, of New York State Supreme Court, heard arguments in
May and June over whether the New York insurance department was
right to approve MBIA's split into two units.
Eighteen banks originally brought the case in 2009 against
MBIA and the insurance department, including ABN Amro, Morgan
Stanley and UBS AG. Since then, all but Bank of America and
Societe Generale settled.
The banks, which were MBIA policyholders, claimed they were
harmed in the restructuring when $5 billion was transferred out
of the MBIA unit that insures risky mortgage debt and into a new
unit that guarantees municipal bonds.
The lawyers appeared before the judge on Thursday to discuss
pre-trial issues in a parallel fraud case that does not include
the insurance department.
The case is ABN Amro Bank v Dinallo, No. 601846/2009, New
York state Supreme Court, New York County.
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