State Street Appvion Stock Plan Lawsuit Advances After Revival

State Street Bank & Trust Co. must face claims challenging its role in transactions involving the employee stock ownership plan of bankrupt paper company Appvion Inc., a federal judge ruled.

State Street said it couldn’t have caused any injuries allegedly suffered by the Appvion Inc. Retirement Savings & Employee Stock Ownership Plan, because the 2012 valuation it signed off on—which set Appvion’s stock price at $17.55 per share—was superseded by a later valuation blessed by the company that succeeded State Street as plan trustee. Judge William C. Griesbach of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin disagreed, ...