Opinion
03 C 336
January 27, 2004
In this case, Plaintiff, Gene Swenson, seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Oxford Bank Trust ("Oxford") for its alleged breach of fiduciary duty in recklessly managing, as sole trustee, the trust assets in Swenson's IRA account. With his motion, Swenson seeks an Order directing Oxford to produce what he believes are relevant and non-privileged documents. These requests are addressed below.
1. Any and all documents necessary to reflect a complete list of all investment accounts managed by the Oxford Bank Trust Department, including name of the account, account number, and name and address of primary beneficiary of the account at Oxford Bank between January 1, 1999-December, 2002. 2. Any and all documents necessary to reflect a complete list of all investment accounts managed by the Oxford Bank Trust Department, including name of the account, account number, and name and address of primary beneficiary of the account for which Carl Rudolph had primary investment or advisor responsibility between January 1, 1999-December, 2002. 3. Any and all documents reflecting the client's investment objectives for all IRA accounts at Oxford Bank between January 1, 1999-December, 2002.
The production of documents relating to other investment accounts are not relevant to the case at hand. As stated by both Swenson and Oxford, the investment mix of each account was supposed to be tailored to the needs of each individual investor and will not shed light on the management of Swenson's account. Requests listed here as 1-3 are denied as irrelevant.
4. All Trust Investment Committee minutes or other notes (unredacted), including but not limited to those involving the review and approval of the bank's investment policies and practices, and those noting any proposed stock purchases that are not reviewed by CSFB (Credit Suisse), for all meetings held between January 1, 1999-December, 2002. 5. All internal communications between January 1, 1999-December, 2002 between any members of the Trust Investment Committee relating to investment decisions for the managed investment accounts at Oxford Bank. 6. All internal communications between January 1, 1999-December, 2002 between Carl Rudolph and any member of the Trust Investment Committee relating to investment decisions for the managed investment accounts at Oxford Bank.
The Trust Investment Committees's actions and communications regarding the management of the bank's IRA accounts are relevant. They may demonstrate whether Oxford knew or should have known that the stocks contained in Swenson's and in other customer's IRAs contained poor investments and whether Oxford knew or should have known the accounts managed by Carl Rudolph were under diversified. Requests listed here as 4-6 are granted. However, I will allow Oxford to redact them to the extent they reference other investors' personal information such as names, addresses, social security numbers etc.
7. Any and all bank regulator's examination reports between January 1, 1999-December, 2002 relating to the trust department at Oxford Bank.
These reports may be relevant to Oxford's supervision of its Trust Department and may highlight problems with that department's policies and procedures. Request listed here as number 7 is granted.
Swenson's Motion to Compel the Production of Documents is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.