SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP alerts investors in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) to possible accounting irregularities, the securities class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and the January 6, 2017 Lead Plaintiff deadline.
If you purchased or otherwise acquired securities of XOM between February 19, 2016 and October 27, 2016 and suffered over $200,000 in losses contact Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. For more information visit:
https://www.hbsslaw.com/cases/XOM
or contact Reed Kathrein, who is leading the firm’s investigation, by calling 510-725-3000 or emailing XOM@hbsslaw.com.
Several financial journalists have reported that Exxon Mobil may have materially misstated its oil reserves.
For example, on August 19, 2016, The New York Times emphasized “Exxon Mobil [would] have to leave much of its oil in the ground, which means the company’s valuation of its reserves is off by a significant amount.” The New York Times went on to quote New York Attorney General Schneiderman who stated that, if Exxon’s internal research showed the Company knew of misstatements, “there may be massive securities fraud here.” The Wall Street Journal also quoted a retired reservoir engineer specializing in reserves accounting who stated that Exxon was “particularly reluctant to write down an asset because that removes its value permanently.”
On October 28, 2016, Exxon disclosed it might write down nearly 20% of its oil and gas assets if energy prices remained low through the end of 2016. That day, The New York Times reported many other petroleum companies have taken big write-offs to reflect a two-year price slump and Exxon’s potential write-downs “could be the biggest accounting revision of reserves in its history.”
“Among other things, we’re looking at why Exxon may have chosen a different route than its peers who timely recognized impaired assets and wrote their values down,” said Hagens Berman partner Reed Kathrein. “Accounting rules are quite specific about when assets must be written down.”
Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Exxon should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new SEC whistleblower program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 510-725-3000 or email XOM@hbsslaw.com.
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