COMPREHENSIVE DISCUSSION OF THE PROCEDURES AND CRITERIA FOR THE ISSUANCE AND QUASHING OF SUBPOENAS IN THIS FRAUD ACTION STEMMING FROM HIGH CREDITWORTHINESS RATINGS GIVEN TO RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined plaintiff bank’s motion to quash defendant’s subpoena of a nonparty former employee of plaintiff should not have been granted. The decision provides an extensive discussion of the procedures and criteria for subpoenas and motions to quash, and refused to apply the standing requirement for governmental agency investigative subpoenas. . Plaintiff bank had invested in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) to which defendant had given high creditworthiness ratings. The action sounded in fraud:

… [W]e reject defendant’s contention that plaintiff was not entitled to seek to quash the nonparty subpoena. CPLR 2304, which authorizes a motion to quash a subpoena, provides as relevant here that, “[i]f the subpoena is not returnable in a court, a request to withdraw or modify the subpoena shall first be made to the person who issued it and a motion to quash . . . may thereafter be made in the supreme court.” …

… [P]laintiff, in moving to quash the nonparty subpoena, failed to meet its burden of establishing “either that the discovery sought is ‘utterly irrelevant’ to the action[s] or that the ‘futility of the process to uncover anything legitimate is inevitable or obvious’ ” … . …

… [P]laintiff has not shown that the nonparty’s testimony would be utterly irrelevant or that it was inevitable or obvious that taking the nonparty’s deposition would be futile to uncovering anything legitimate … . …

… [P]laintiff’s own submissions suggest that the nonparty has at least some knowledge of plaintiff’s underwriting practices with respect to the non-prime loans at issue here … . M&T Bank Corp. v Moody’s Invs. Servs., Inc., 2021 NY Slip Op 00706, Fourth Dept 2-5-21