MILWAUKEE, April 16, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Law Firm of Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP announced that a class action lawsuit has been filed on March 25, 2003 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division, located at 100 E. 5th Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202, on behalf of purchasers of Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq:FITB) ("Fifth Third" or the "Company") publicly traded securities during the period between September 21, 2001 to January 31, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the firm's website at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/FifthThird.pdf.
The complaint charges that defendants Fifth Third, George A. Schaefer, Jr. (CEO and President), Neal E. Arnold (CFO) and David J. DeBrunner (Controller) violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements to the market between September 21, 2001 to January 31, 2003. The Complaint alleges, among other things, that Fifth Third issued press releases and filed financial reports with the SEC which represented that the Company had successfully and seamlessly integrated a large corporate acquisition (Old Kent) into its operations and further represented that its business was stronger than ever and that the Company would continue to grow and provide investment-safety. According to the complaint, these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose that the Old Kent (and other) merger(s) seriously strained the Company's infrastructure, causing deficiencies in its internal controls and other business-critical systems. The alleged motive in this action was the Company's plan to acquire a Tennessee-based bank using Fifth Third stock as currency. On September 10, 2002, the Company announced that it would be taking a $54 million after-tax ($81.8 million pre-tax) charge for impaired funds, resulting from a botched accounting reconciliation. According to the complaint, the Company played down the incident as a one-time immaterial event, which was false and misleading because, according to the complaint, it was symptomatic of material, company-wide infrastructure deficiencies. On November 14, 2002 the Company revealed that the write-off had triggered investigations by banking regulators and the SEC. According to the Complaint, the Company continued to insist, falsely, that its controls were adequate. On January 31, 2003, the Company reported that banking regulators would likely take formal action against the Company, which would likely require Fifth Third to improve its internal controls by, among other things, adding personnel and processes. On February 3, 2003, the first trading day following the announcement, the price of Fifth Third common stock closed at $52.21 per share, a decline of 15% from the closing price on November 14, 2002 close of $62.53, the day that Fifth Third first revealed that it was being investigated by banking regulators and the SEC.
If you bought Fifth Third publicly traded securities between September 21, 2001 to January 31, 2003, inclusive, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 27, 2003. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/FifthThird.php . Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through Ademi & O'Reilly or other counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call or e-mail the Firm or visit the Firm's website at www.ademilaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.