A U.S. federal judge has allowed Parmalat Finanziaria SpA to proceed with its $10 billion lawsuit against Bank of America Corp., but threw out most of the Italian dairy company's claims, Reuters reported. Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan granted Bank of America's motion to dismiss 10 of the 12 claims asserted by Parmalat administrator Enrico Bondi, and parts of the two others. Kaplan also dismissed claims belonging only to Parmalat creditors, saying Bondi lacked standing to assert them. The judge gave Bondi permission to resubmit two of the dismissed claims. The Aug. 5 decision is a setback for Bondi, who has sued the two largest U.S. banks, Bank of America and Citigroup Inc. , and former auditors Deloitte & Touche and Grant Thornton International for $10 billion. In a statement, bank spokeswoman Rhiannedd Brooke said Bank of America is "delighted" with the decision, and will defend vigorously against the remaining claims. She said the bank has more than $462 million of financial exposure to Parmalat. Loren Kieve, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP, which represents Bondi, said: "We don't believe (the ruling) affects the bottom line for the plaintiff. It was a $10 billion lawsuit, and still is a $10 billion lawsuit." Bondi intends to press ahead with discovery, a spokesman said.
