California Public Employees’ Retirement System v. ANZ Securities, Inc.

In California Public Employees’ Retirement System v. ANZ Securities, Inc., the petitioner, CalPERS, was a member of a class action alleging that underwriters, including ANZ Securities, violated the Securities Act of 1933 in connection with Lehman Brothers debt offerings. CalPERS did not opt out but later filed an individual suit after the three-year period in Section 13. It argued that the statute of repose was tolled during the pendency of the class action under American Pipe. The Supreme Court, however, held that the three-year limit is a statute of repose, not a statute of limitations, and it cannot be tolled by class-action filings. Because the repose period had run, CalPERS’s individual claims were untimely and barred. The decision underscored the absolute, inflexible nature of the statutory deadline established by Congress.

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the three-year repose period is absolute and is not subject to equitable tolling under American Pipe. The judgment affirmed the dismissal of CalPERS’s individual claims as time-barred.

Whether the filing of a class action tolls the three-year statute of repose under Section 13 of the Securities Act of 1933, thereby permitting individual suits by class members after the repose period has expired.

The ruling clarified a critical boundary between statutes of repose and statutes of limitations in securities law. It protects defendants from indefinite liability exposure and reinforces finality for securities underwriters and issuers. Class members must now vigilantly monitor repose deadlines and file protective individual suits or opt out early to preserve their claims, impacting litigation strategy across major securities fraud cases.