NEW YORK, July 23, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes, P.A. ("K&T")(http://www.nasd-law.com) announced today that it is investigating the possibility of taking legal action against Bear Stearns & Co., Inc. (NYSE:BSC) on behalf of investors who lost money in the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund and the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage Fund ("the Bear Funds"). This investigation is being launched on the heels of Bear Stearns' July 18 announcement that "there is effectively no value left for the investors in the Enhanced Leverage Fund and very little value left for the investors in the High-Grade Fund."
Over the past few years, many brokerage firms, including Bear Stearns, bundled mortgages and sold them to investors as interest-paying bonds. Accompanying these products came an alphabet soup of securities like CMOs, CDOs, RMBSs and Alt-As. Most of these products are part of hedge funds, and were purchased by wealthy investors and institutions. However, some individuals were unsuitably steered to invest in these risky products. Many of these investors and institutions did not understand how these products work, nor were the risks of owning these products fully explained to them at the time of purchase.
Combined, the Bear Funds had investor capital of about $1.56 billion. With this capital, and additional leverage taken out on the capital, Bear Stearns bet heavily on the market for subprime mortgages and invested in thinly traded collateralized debt obligations. Its gamble turned out to be wrong. As a result of the slumping U.S. housing market, the Bear Funds have collapsed within a very short period of time, and investors have lost about $1.9 billion.
Because of the collapse of the Bear Funds, K&T anticipates that it will be filing numerous claims on behalf of institutions and individuals who invested in these Funds. Moreover, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that losses from the subprime mortgage fallout could reach $100 billion, K&T is also looking into the possibility of filing claims against other large brokerage firms who sustained losses in their mortgage-backed securities and subprime mortgage products.
K&T continues it representation of high-net worth investors throughout the nation in securities litigation and arbitration matters, against major Wall Street brokerage firms for securities violations including misuse of margin, failure to supervise, unsuitability, and misrepresentation and omission of material fact. If you wish to discuss this announcement or have information relevant to our securities arbitration claims, please contact Jahan K. Manasseh, Esquire of Klayman & Toskes, P.A., at 888-997-9956, or visit us on the web at http://www.nasd-law.com.