Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, a nationally recognized investor-rights law firm, alerts investors of the Oct. 27, 2014, lead plaintiff deadline in a securities fraud class action against Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC) (“Santander” or “the Company”), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on August 26, 2014, and docketed under 14-CV-6942, alleges that Santander’s Registration Statement and Prospectus contained materially false or misleading statements or omitted material information about the Company’s automobile loan underwriting and securitization practices. In the first few days of trading, while Santander’s share price was near historical high prices, insiders sold hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Santander stock.

On August 7, 2014, after the close of the market, Santander revealed that it received a civil subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act. When trading resumed the next day, shares dropped in value by $.28 or over 1% to close on at $17.95 – a 25% decrease from the IPO price of $24.

“Our investigation indicates that Santander may have packed in a large quantity of junk auto loans prior to the IPO and concealed this truth from investors,” said Mr. Kathrein. “The company’s reorganization announced Monday, separating loan originations from servicing, appears to be a late attempt to correct this practice under the sunlight of the DOJ investigations.”

Persons with non-public information regarding Santander should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new SEC Whistleblower program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 510-725-3000 or email [email protected].