NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Gauthier Swick, LLC ("KGS") has filed a class action lawsuit against The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ("RBS" or the "Company") in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, on behalf of purchasers of the securities of the Company between June 26, 2007 and January 19, 2009, inclusive (the "Class Period"). No class has yet been certified in this action.
If you would like to discuss your legal rights, along with the lead plaintiff position and its related responsibilities including overseeing lead counsel with a goal of obtaining a fair settlement, you may e-mail or call KGS Managing Partner Lewis Kahn, without obligation or cost to you, toll free 1-866-467-1400, ext. 100, via cell phone after hours at 504-301-7900, or by email at lewis.kahn@kgscounsel.com.
RBS and certain of its officers and directors, and the Company's underwriters - collectively, "defendants" - are charged with including, or allowing the inclusion of, materially false and misleading statements in the Registration Statement and Prospectus issued in connection with its June 26, 2007 Offering of Series S securities, and the Company's September 18, 2007 Offering of Series T securities, in violation of the Securities Act of 1933. Additionally, RBS and certain of the Company's officers and/or directors are charged with making a series of materially false and misleading statements related to the Company's business and operations in violation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").
The allegations in the complaint primarily relate to the Company's acquisition of Dutch bank ABN AMRO ("ABN"), which was commenced in early May 2007 and completed on or about October 17, 2007. On May 29, 2007, RBS issued a release "confirming the terms of their proposed Offer for ABN AMRO" in which "it is intended that RBS will acquire the Global Wholesale Businesses (including the Netherlands but excluding Brazil), LaSalle Bank and International Retail Businesses of ABN AMRO () for a consideration of EUR 27.2 billion." RBS further stated in this release that the "combination of RBS Global Banking & Markets (GBM) and ABN AMRO's Global Wholesale Businesses will create a leading corporate and institutional business with both scale and global reach, and with significantly enhanced growth prospects."
Unbeknownst to investors, the Individual Defendants and RBS first revealed on January 19, 2009 that, as a result of the complete failure of the ABN acquisition, among other undisclosed problems, the Company would be forced to take GBP 15-20 billion in write-downs on goodwill impairments, and suffer losses of GBP 7-8 billion for full year 2008. After the release of this news, the Series S ADS traded on the NYSE from a close of $10.85 on January 16, 2009, to a close of $4.62 on January 20, 2009 (the next trading day) on heavy volume of over 600,000 Series S shares traded - a catastrophic loss for investors who had previously purchased such securities at $25.00 per share in connection with the June 2007 Series S Offering. At the same time, the price of the Company's Series T ADS, as well as its other securities, also declined precipitously.
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this class action lawsuit, you must move the Court no later than March 13, 2009. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. If you would like to discuss your legal rights, you may e-mail or call KGS Managing Partner Lewis Kahn, without obligation or cost to you, toll free 1-866-467-1400, ext. 100, after hours via cell phone 504-301-7900, or by email at lewis.kahn@kgscounsel.com. To learn more about KGS, you may visit www.kgscounsel.com. KGS is a law firm focused on securities class action litigation with offices in New Orleans and New York City.
KGS' lawyers have significant experience litigating complex securities class actions. Among other cases, KGS has been appointed Lead or Co-Lead Counsel in the following securities cases: In re: U.S. Auto Parts Networks, Inc. Securities Litigation, C.D. Cal.; In re Optionable, Inc. Securities Litigation, S.D.N.Y.; In re Xethanol Corporation Securities Litigation, S.D.N.Y.; Whitney Information Network, M.D. Fla.; In re Superior Offshore International, Inc. Securities Litigation, S.D. Tex.; In re Xinhua Finance Media, Ltd. Securities Litigation, S.D.N.Y.; Terayon Comm. Systems Inc., N.D. Cal.; and In re BigBand Networks, Inc. Securities Litigation, N.D. Cal.
SPECIAL NOTICE: KGS encourages you to carefully evaluate any firm you may consider to represent your interests in the RBS class action. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act ("PSLRA") permits RBS shareholders to choose counsel of their choice to prosecute this action. Critical components of a law firm's ability to successfully prosecute this action and obtain a strong recovery for you include the resources it will dedicate to prosecution of the case, including the number of lawyers the firm has available for the RBS action in particular, AND especially the quality of the firm's work. Interested shareholders are encouraged to call for consultation and to request more information about KGS.