IN RE DIDI GLOBAL INC. SECURITIES LITIGATION

Background

Underwriter Defendants’ counsel asked the court to permanently seal Exhibits 1 and 2 to the reply declaration supporting plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. The letter said Goldman Asia had produced the exhibits and designated them for attorneys’ or experts’ eyes only under the parties’ confidentiality and protective order.

Exhibit 1 was described as a confidential filing to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the New York Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq under Securities and Exchange Commission Regulation M. It reported short-covering transactions that Morgan Stanley executed as stabilization agent for Didi’s initial public offering. Exhibit 2 contained excerpts from email communications between Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Morgan Stanley about those transactions.

Arguments and Legal Standard

The sealing request relied on the presumption that judicial documents should generally be available to the public, subject to protection of higher interests through narrowly tailored restrictions. The letter argued that the exhibits contained commercially sensitive information about stabilization and short-covering strategies, including transaction dates, prices, and volumes. It also argued that the information could give competitors valuable insight into Morgan Stanley’s business practices, even though the transactions were not recent.

Ruling

Judge Valerie Figueredo granted the motion to seal. The Clerk of Court was directed to maintain the viewing restrictions on the exhibits filed at ECF No. 346. The order stated that this resolved the motion at ECF No. 391. The order addressed access to the exhibits and did not decide the underlying securities-litigation claims or the class-certification motion.