First-Citizens Bank and Trust Company v. HSBC Holdings plc et al

ORDER – No. 23-cv-02483-LB
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
San Francisco Division
FIRST-CITIZENS BANK AND TRUST
COMPANY,
Plaintiff,
v.
HSBC HOLDINGS PLC, et al.,
Defendants.
Case No. 3:23-cv-02483-LB
DISCOVERY AND SCHEDULING
ORDER
Re: ECF No. 291
A further case-management conference is set for October 22, 2026. The parties’ joint statement
raises two matters that the court resolves on the papers now, Civil L.R. 7-1(b), so that the
conference can focus on the remaining schedule, including dates for any further disputes.1 The court
(1) adopts, as an order, the parties’ agreed October 30, 2026, deadline for First Citizens to
substantially complete its production responsive to the defendants’ Requests for Production 135 and
136, and (2) addresses scheduling in light of the undersigned’s upcoming departure from the bench.
First Citizens has agreed to substantially complete its production of documents responsive to
RFPs 135 and 136 (communications involving its executive management or Board of Directors
regarding the SVB transaction and the allegations in this case), including service of its privilege log
1 Joint Case-Mgmt. Statement – ECF No. 291. Citations refer to material in the Electronic Case File
(ECF); pinpoint cites are to the ECF-generated page numbers at the top of documents.
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ORDER – No. 23-cv-02483-LB 	2
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United States District Court
Northern District of California
for withheld documents, by October 30, 2026.2 The only dispute is whether to put the agreed
deadline in an order: the defendants ask the court to enter one, and First Citizens opposes that as
preemptive and unnecessary.3 The court enters the order. The production is necessary to what
remains in the case: the defendants need the documents to identify witnesses and to prepare for and
complete depositions, and the deadline to serve non-expert written discovery is October 30, 2026.4
And because the case will be reassigned when the undersigned leaves the bench, a deadline allows a
new judge to enforce it, if it comes to that, without relearning the discovery history.5
First Citizens has two concerns. First, some responsive documents are or may be confidential
supervisory information or subject to the bank-examination privilege, and producing them may
require review by the FDIC or other regulators, timing that is not fully in First Citizens’ control.6
The order accounts for that: by the deadline, First Citizens must identify any documents withheld
pending regulatory review and report the status of that process, and it must produce them promptly
on clearance. It need not produce what the regulators have not cleared. Second, First Citizens
points out that the defendants’ own production obligations remain outstanding on other requests.7
The parties must report the status of their outstanding productions in the update (see below) due
on October 20, and if First Citizens identifies specific requests, the court will consider reciprocal
substantial-completion dates.
The court will address the process and timing of reassignment at the October 22 conference.8
The practical point for now is that the court is scheduling hearings through December 3, 2026.
Any matter that the parties want the undersigned to decide should be raised in time to allow a
decision by then: discovery disputes, through the joint-letter process, generally by November 19,
2 Id. at 2 (the requests and the agreement), 4–5 (First Citizens’ confirmation of the October 31, 2026
date). October 31 is a Saturday. The court replaces any October 31 deadline with October 30.
3 Id. at 3, 5.
4 Id. at 3; Stipulated Order – ECF No. 292.
5 Joint Case-Mgmt. Statement – ECF No. 291 at 4.
6 Id.
7 Id. at 5.
8 Id.
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ORDER – No. 23-cv-02483-LB 	3
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United States District Court
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2026, and noticed motions in time to be heard by December 3, 2026, under the Civil Local Rules
or on a schedule that the court sets at the conference.9
To make the conference productive, in an update due on October 20, the parties must be
prepared to address the following: (1) dates for any further motions; (2) the status of the
productions ordered on the joint discovery letter about the former-employee subpoenas, and
whether First Citizens anticipates renewing its request as to any other former employees;10 (3) the
status of the parties’ other document productions; and (4) the parties’ ADR plans, given that First
Citizens’ response to the counterclaim is due October 29, 2026.11
The court orders as follows.
1. By October 30, 2026, First Citizens must substantially complete its production of
documents responsive to the defendants’ RFPs 135 and 136 and serve its privilege log for
documents withheld from that production.
2. If First Citizens withholds responsive documents that are or may be confidential supervisory
information requiring regulator review, then by October 30, 2026, it must identify them by
category and approximate volume and report the status of the regulator process, and it must
produce them promptly on clearance or raise any remaining issue by joint letter.
3. Any request to modify the October 30 deadline must be filed before the deadline and
supported by a specific showing.
4. The case-management conference remains on calendar for October 22, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.
with an update due by October 20.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated: October 16, 2026 	______________________________________
LAUREL BEELER
United States Magistrate Judge
9 Order – ECF No. 268 (revised case schedule).
10 Joint Letter – ECF No. 263.
11 Order –– ECF No. 292.
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