The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 004) 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 333, 334, 335, 336 were read on this motion to/for SUMMARY JUDGMENT(AFTER JOINDER. DECISION + ORDER ON MOTION Defendants Morgan Stanley et al. (“Defendants” or “Morgan Stanley”) have filed a motion for summary judgment dismissing the remaining causes of action in the complaint of Plaintiffs IKB International S.A. in liquidation (“IKB SA”) and IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG (“IKB AG”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) pursuant to CPLR 3212. In particular, Defendants seek summary judgment dismissing the causes of action for fraud and aiding and abetting fraud. Defendants assert entitlement to summary judgment on several grounds: (1) that the assignment to IKB AG of the right to bring these claims (“2012 Assignment”) is void as champertous, (2) that the claims are barred by collateral estoppel, and (3) that, regardless, Plaintiffs are not able to establish the elements of actual and justifiable reliance for their fraud claim. Defendants further argue that, if the court dismisses the fraud cause of action, the aiding and abetting fraud claim should be dismissed for lack of an underlying fraud. Following initial briefing and oral argument, the court permitted Defendants to file supplemental briefing relating to an aspect of statute of limitations. In their supplemental briefing, Defendants argued that, to the extent Plaintiffs claim that IKB AG sustained the injury in this case rather than IKB SA, IKB AG’s claim is barred under Germany’s applicable 3-year statute of limitations. For the following reasons, Defendants’ motion is granted in part and denied in part. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY The lengthy history of this case began in the years immediately prior to the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Plaintiff IKB SA was a commercial bank incorporated in Luxembourg, currently in liquidation. IKB SA purchased a number of certificates (“Certificates”) for residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) from Morgan Stanley, allegedly in reliance on misrepresentations that Morgan Stanley made in its offering documents (Complaint, NYSCEF Doc. No. 2, 38). In particular, Morgan Stanley allegedly made misrepresentations to IKB SA’s investment managers, Standish Mellon and BlackRock, including misrepresentations regarding loan-to-value (“LTV”) and combined loan-to-value (“CLTV”) statistics, owner-occupancy status of borrowers, and adherence to the originators’ own underwriting guidelines (Complaint, §§III.A-C). The contemporary value of the Certificates collapsed during the onset of the financial crisis as the poor quality of the underlying loans and resulting increased credit risk became apparent (see Complaint,
