Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP today filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, on behalf of all persons who purchased the securities of Fortis, Fortis S.A./N.V., Fortis NV (collectively, "Fortis" or the "Company") [OTC: FORSF; FORSY]; [Brussels: FORB BB]; [EURONEXT: FORA]; [EURONEXT: FORB]; or [LUXSE: FOR] between January 28, 2008 and October 6, 2008, inclusive (the “Class Period”), against the Company and certain officers and directors, alleging fraud under sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. Section 78(i)(b), 78(t) and 78t-1(a) (“Class”).
The case name is styled Copeland v. Fortis, et al. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP website at www.whafh.com.
Throughout the Class Period, Defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business and financial results. As a result of the dissemination of the false and misleading statements set forth in the complaint, the market price of Fortis securities was artificially inflated during the Class Period. In ignorance of the false and misleading nature of the statements described above, and the deceptive and manipulative devices and contrivances employed by said defendants, plaintiff and the other members of the Class relied, to their detriment, on the integrity of the market price of Fortis securities. Had plaintiff and the other members of the Class known the truth, they would not have purchased said securities, or would not have purchased them at the inflated prices that were paid.
The Complaint alleges that during the Class Period, the Company and the individual defendants falsely portrayed the Company as relatively immune from the effects of the global credit crisis and stated that the Company’s capital position remained strong and loan portfolio was solid. In actuality, the Company was practically insolvent at all relevant times and needed to sell assets at fire-sale prices and raise capital at extraordinarily high rates to remain viable. Moreover, the Company’s balance sheet was impaired by billions of dollars of poorly performing assets the Company acquired when it purchased ABN AMRO in October 2007.
The magnitude of the Company’s severe liquidity crisis first became apparent on September 29, 2008, when the governments of three separate countries (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg), agreed to bail-out the Company so long as it would sell its troubled stake in ABN AMRO. Published reports indicated that Fortis’s sale of ABN AMRO would net considerably less than Fortis had paid for it just months ago. The deal would have given the three European nations a 49% stake in the Company. The emergency infusion was in the form of 11.2 billion euros ($16.9 billion). This unprecedented move, however, was not enough to stem Fortis’ continued decline.
On Saturday, October 4, 2008, it was reported that the Dutch government took over Fortis’ operations for 16.8 billion euros ($23 billion) in a deal that came less than a week after the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg had agreed to invest 11.2 billion euros in Fortis. News that the famed financial giant was in ruins and required nationalization further punished Fortis’ already bruised stakeholders.
On October 14, 2008, Fortis traded on the Brussels exchange at the lowest levels that it had ever seen since it was formed 18 years ago, after selling most of its operations to three governments and BNP Paribas SA. Fortis, which resumed trading after a six-day suspension, declined 78 percent to 1.22 euro, valuing the Company at 2.86 billion euros ($3.91 billion).
If you purchased Fortis securities during the Class Period, you may request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff no later than December 22, 2008. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member’s claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as “lead plaintiff.” Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Wolf Haldenstein, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Wolf Haldenstein has extensive experience in the prosecution of securities class actions and derivative litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country. The firm has approximately 70 attorneys in various practice areas; and offices in Chicago, New York City, San Diego, and West Palm Beach. The reputation and expertise of this firm in shareholder and other class litigation has been repeatedly recognized by the courts, which have appointed it to major positions in complex securities multi-district and consolidated litigation.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions, please contact Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP at 270 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, by telephone at (800) 575-0735 (Gregory M. Nespole, Esq., Martin Restituyo, Esq., or Derek Behnke), via e-mail at classmember@whafh.com or visit our website at www.whafh.com. All e-mail correspondence should make reference to Fortis. You may also contact Mr. Nespole directly at (212) 545 4657, Nespole@whafh.com, or Gnespole@bloomberg.com.
Contacts:
Gregory M. Nespole,
212-545-4657
Nespole@whafh.com
