BALTIMORE, Jan. 23, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- On December 23, 2002, Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A. commenced a class action lawsuit on behalf of all purchasers of all four share classes of Merrill Lynch Focus Twenty Fund shares (Nasdaq:MAFOX) (Nasdaq:MBFOX) (Nasdaq:MCFOX) (Nasdaq:MDFOX) from the date of the Focus Twenty Fund's initial public offering (which took place on or about March 3, 2000 through December 23, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period") against Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., Merrill Lynch Focus Twenty Fund, Inc., and other Merrill Lynch-affiliated entities for violations of Sections 11, 12 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 and of the Investment Company Act of 1940.
The case, captioned McGinnes v. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., Merrill Lynch Focus Twenty Fund, Inc., et al., is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The relationships among the defendants that have been alleged in the Complaint include that the defendants are: (1) the underwriters for the common stock of certain of the companies in the Focus Twenty Fund's portfolio; (2) the investment bankers and corporate finance specialists for certain of the companies whose securities are in the Fund's portfolio; (3) seeking to obtain additional investment banking business from these present and former clients and from other companies whose shares also were/are in the Fund's portfolio; (4) the issuers of the shares in the Fund; (5) preparing and publicly disseminating research reports and recommendations on many of the companies whose shares were in the Fund's portfolio; and (6) the broker for certain members of the Class.
This action is alleged to arise as a result of the issuance by the defendants of shares in the Fund, and the Complaint alleges material misstatements and omissions by defendants in the Prospectus and other incorporated documents, relating to defendants' conflicts of interest, which include but are not limited to the following: (1) defendants failed to disclose and omitted material information that Merrill Lynch had had investment banking relationships with, including having brought public, certain of the companies whose securities were part of the Fund's portfolio; defendants disclosed neither this general fact nor the identities of the particular companies with which it had investment banking relationships; (2) defendants failed to disclose and omitted material information concerning that Merrill Lynch was continuing to seek investment banking relationships with many of the companies whose securities were part of the Fund's portfolio; and (3) defendants failed to disclose and omitted material information concerning that a material part of the total compensation paid to Merrill Lynch research analysts was based upon obtaining investment banking business for Merrill Lynch and not upon the accuracy of their research about a given company.
Hence, the Complaint alleges, Merrill Lynch and its affiliated companies including the Fund recommended investments in and/or invested in companies in order to enhance Merrill Lynch's opportunity to obtain investment banking business from those companies (without regard to whether they were good investments for the investors including plaintiffs and the Class).
In the Complaint, Plaintiffs seek to recover damages or rescission on behalf of all those who purchased shares of any class of the Focus Twenty Fund during the Class Period, from the Fund's initial public offering (which took place on or about March 3, 2000) through December 23, 2002. If you purchased shares during the Class Period, and either lost money on the transaction or still hold the securities, you may wish to join in the action to serve as lead plaintiff. If you purchased shares during the Class Period, you may, no later than February 24, 2003, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff.
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 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 plaintiffs." 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 Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A., or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven has been involved in securities litigation for over ten years. This case is one in a series of actions concerning conflicts of interest within broker-dealers which engage in investment banking, research and also sell mutual funds, including a recent action against the Merrill Lynch Global Technology Fund.
If you are interested in being included in our action or serving as one of the lead plaintiffs, please contact Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A. who will, without obligation or cost to you, attempt to answer your questions. You may contact Law Offices Of Charles J. Piven, P.A. at The World Trade Center-Baltimore, 401 East Pratt Street, Suite 2525, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, by email at piven@pivenlaw.com or by calling 410/986-0036.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca