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| CONTACT: | Press
Office (518) 474-4015 |
FOR RELEASE: |
Immediately March 10, 2005 |
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Hevesi Announces Another $112.5 Million In Worldcom Securities Litigation
Settlements Two additional investment banking firms facing trial next week have agreed to pay a total of $112.5 million to settle the claims asserted against them in the WorldCom Securities Litigation, Alan G. Hevesi, New York State Comptroller and sole Trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund and Court-appointed Lead Plaintiff, announced today. The investment banks are: WestLB AG (paying $75,000,000); and Caboto Holding SIM S.p.A. (paying $37,500,000). Both banks participated as junior underwriters in WorldCom’s May 2001 bond offering, in which they underwrote 3 percent of the bonds issued in that offering. The firms did not participate in the offering in May 2000. These additional settlements bring the total recovery for the Class to about $3.7 billion. As in other settlements announced this week, these amounts, on a percentage basis, are higher than the rates established by the amount the Citigroup Defendants agreed in May 2004 to pay to settle the bond portions of the claims against them. These settlements follow the $460.5 million settlement with Bank of America announced on March 3, the $100.3 million settlement with Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse First Boston, and UBS Warburg announced on March 4, the $428.4 million in settlements with ABN AMRO, Mitsubishi Securities International, BNP Paribas Securities Corp. and Mizuho International announced on March 9, 2005, and the $2.575 billion settlement with the Citigroup Defendants, which was approved by United States District Court Judge Denise Cote on November 12, 2004. Hevesi is the Court-appointed Lead Plaintiff in the consolidated securities class action, In re WorldCom, Inc. Securities Litigation, which is pending before Judge Cote. The NYSCRF and investor class are represented by the law firms of Barrack, Rodos & Bacine and Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, who were appointed as Lead Counsel by Judge Cote in August 2002. The two firms also served as Lead Counsel in the Cendant class action, which was previously the highest recovery ever achieved in a securities law class case. To obtain further information concerning that Settlement and the submission of proof of claim forms, investors may access the website maintained by Lead Counsel, at www.worldcomlitigation.com. ###
Albany Phone: (518) 474-4015 Fax:(518)
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