is a citizen of the State in which the action is brought,
except that such action may be removed—
‘‘(1) by any defendant without the consent of
all defendants; or
‘‘(2) by any plaintiff class member who is not
a named or representative class member of the ac-
tion for which removal is sought, without the con-
sent of all members of such class.
‘‘(b) WHEN REMOVABLE.—This section shall apply
to any class action before or after the entry of any order
certifying a class, except that a plaintiff class member who
is not a named or representative class member of the ac-
tion may not seek removal of the action before an order
certifying a class of which the plaintiff is a class member
has been entered.
‘‘(c) PROCEDURE FOR REMOVAL.—The provisions of
section 1446(a) relating to a defendant removing a case
shall apply to a plaintiff removing a case under this sec-
tion. With respect to the application of subsection (b) of
such section, the requirement relating to the 30-day filing
period shall be met if a plaintiff class member who is not
a named or representative class member of the action for
which removal is sought files notice of removal no later
than 30 days after receipt by such class member, through
service or otherwise, of the initial written notice of the
class action provided at the court’s direction.
‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS.—
‘‘(1) COVERED SECURITIES.—This section shall
not apply to any claim concerning a covered security
as that term is defined in section 16(f)(3) of the Se-
curities Act of 1933 and section 28(f)(5)(E) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
‘‘(2) INTERNAL GOVERNANCE OF BUSINESS EN-
TITIES.—This section shall not apply to any class
action solely involving a claim that relates to—
‘‘(A) the internal affairs or governance of
a corporation or other form of business enter-
prise and that arises under or by virtue of the
laws of the State in which such corporation or
business enterprise is incorporated or orga-
nized; or
‘‘(B) the rights, duties (including fiduciary
duties), and obligations relating to or created
by or pursuant to any security (as defined
under section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of
1933 and the regulations issued thereunder).’’.
(b) REMOVAL LIMITATIONS.—Section 1446(b) is
amended in the second sentence—
(1) by inserting ‘‘, by exercising due diligence,’’
after ‘‘ascertained’’; and
(2) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ after ‘‘section 1332’’.
(c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
The table of sections for chapter 89 is amended by adding
after the item relating to section 1452 the following:
‘‘1453. Removal of class actions.’’.
(d) APPLICATION OF SUBSTANTIVE STATE LAW.—
Nothing in this section or the amendments made by this
section shall alter the substantive law applicable to an ac-
tion to which the amendments made by section 3 of this
Act apply.
(e) PROCEDURE AFTER REMOVAL.—Section 1447 is
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(f) If, after removal, the court determines that no
aspect of an action that is subject to its jurisdiction solely
under the provisions of section 1332(b) may be maintained
as a class action under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure, it shall dismiss the action. An action dis-
missed pursuant to this subsection may be amended and
filed again in a State court, but any such refiled action
may be removed again if it is an action of which the dis-
trict courts of the United States have original jurisdiction.
In any action that is dismissed pursuant to this subsection
and that is refiled by any of the named plaintiffs therein
in the same State court venue in which the dismissed ac-
tion was originally filed, the limitations periods on all re-
asserted claims shall be deemed tolled for the period dur-
ing which the dismissed class action was pending. The lim-
itations periods on any claims that were asserted in a class
action dismissed pursuant to this subsection that are sub-
sequently asserted in an individual action shall be deemed
tolled for the period during which the dismissed class ac-
tion was pending.’’.
SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY.
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to any
action commenced on or after the date of the enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 6. GAO STUDY.
The Comptroller General of the United States shall,
by not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment
of this Act, conduct a study of the impact of the amend-
ments made by this Act on the workload of the Federal
courts and report to the Congress on the results of the
study.
Passed the House of Representatives September 23,
1999.
Attest:
Clerk.