Amerikaanse investeerders willen vergoeding van Amerikaanse banken

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Fortiss/Dexia is niet de enige bank met problemen, door claims van
investeerders in aandelen.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134637710_ipo
suits20.html
Thousands of investors who say investment banks cheated them of
billions of dollars by plotting to make Internet companies skyrocket
in value when they went public cleared a legal hurdle yesterday when
a judge refused to toss their claims.
U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said investors presented "a
coherent scheme" in which the banks joined with Internet companies to
defraud the public by hiding secret deals and analyst conflicts to
artificially inflate new shares and deliver a payoff to insiders.

The plaintiffs said the banking companies required their customers
who wanted a piece of initial public offerings (IPOs) to pay
undisclosed compensation and to engage in tie-in deals that
guaranteed they would buy more stock on the open market.

"Subsequent purchases at escalating prices falsely inflated the price
of the shares. This very conduct evinces a strong inference that
defendants intended to defraud the investing public," the judge said.

If the allegations are true, "This scheme offends the very purpose of
the securities laws," Scheindlin wrote. "Where insiders conspire to
frustrate the efficient function of securities markets by exploiting
their position of privilege, they have perpetrated a double fraud:
They have manipulated the market, and they have covered up that
manipulation with lies and omissions."

In her 238-page ruling, Scheindlin said she had considered the claims
and counterclaims made in more than 1,000 lawsuits filed in Manhattan
from Jan. 11, 2001, through Dec. 6, 2001.

Investors allege the value of their holdings plummeted as a result of
the alleged fraud in connection with 309 initial public offerings of
stock, including those of shares in theglobe.com, Global Crossing and
MP3.com.

The decision came at the stage of litigation in which defendants
attempt to have lawsuits dismissed on the grounds that there are
insufficient allegations to put before a jury. Scheindlin said some
defendants could be dropped from the case due to insufficient
evidence, but that most would stand.

Melvyn Weiss, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the judge's ruling
permits lawyers for the investors to begin viewing documents and
other evidence.

He said the investors were looking to recover "many, many billions"
of dollars and expected the defendants will be interested in
beginning settlement talks.

Gandolfo DiBlasi, a lawyer for the underwriters, which include J.P.
Morgan, Salomon Smith Barney, Credit Suisse First Boston,
Robertson Stephens and Morgan Stanley, said he could not comment.

"We've obtained a copy and I haven't had a chance to read it yet,"
DiBlasi said.

Jack Auspitz, a lawyer for the issuing companies, said he had not
seen the ruling and could not immediately comment.

The lawsuits named as defendants 55 underwriters, 309 issuers of
stock in high-technology and Internet-related stocks and thousands of
individuals. They target a high percentage of the more than 460 high-
technology and Internet-related companies that raised capital by
selling stock to the public from January 1998 to December 2000.

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