One of the Reserve's [see profile] defenses in a class-action shareholder suit is claiming that the Primary Fund wasn't the only money market mutual fund to break the buck after Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008. Dow Jones' Daisy Maxey reports on that claim, revealed Friday in just-released court documents. Meanwhile, the Reserve tweaks its two big liquidating funds.

For the full story on the the death of the Reserve and its Primary Fund, see MFWire's timeline.

Primary "was not the only money-market fund to break the buck," Reserve's attorneys reportedly claim in one court filing, noting that large fund firms with large amounts of cash stepped in to other money funds to prevent any dips below $1 NAV (i.e. breaking the buck).

Peter Crane, whose Crane Data reports on money fund news and gathers money fund data, countered that other fund firms rescued their funds "long before the NAV rounded down" to below $1, making all the difference.

Also on Friday, the Reserve added "in liquidation" to the names of the Primary Fund and another fallen Reserve offering, Yield Plus. And Reserve updated the tax status of both funds so that "taxable shareholders ... should be able to recognize a loss for U.S. federal income purposes on their shares of each fund." 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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