Defunct global investment bank Bear Stearns has come out on top of a lawsuit filed against it challenging its 2007 decision to auction off mortgage-backed securities from a bankrupt lender.

On May 31, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin J. Carey of the District of Delaware ruled that the Chapter 7 trustee's challenge failed. The case stems from Bear Stearns' acquisition and subsequent auctioning off of lender HomeBanc's mortgage-backed securities as its own after HomeBanc defaulted on a securities repurchasing agreement and later declared bankruptcy.

The trustee argued that auctioning off the assets in the midst of the subprime mortgage crisis and the upheaval in U.S. markets made it impossible to get a good price for the securities. But Carey held that Bear Stearns acted in good faith.