Brower Piven Encourages Investors Who Have Losses in Excess of $200,000 from Investment in Manulife Financial Corporation to Inquire About the Lead Plaintiff Position in Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Before The September 8, 2009 Lead Plaintiff Deadline
BALTIMORE, MD -- (July 23, 2009) - Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation announces that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of the securities of Manulife Financial Corporation (“Manulife” or the “Company”) (NYSE: MFC) during the period between March 28, 2008 and June 22, 2009, inclusive (the “Class Period”). Manulife also trades as “MFC” on the TSX and PSE, and under “945” on the SEHK.
No class has yet been certified in the above action. Members of the Class will be represented by the lead plaintiff and counsel chosen by the lead plaintiff. If you wish to choose counsel to represent you and the Class, you must apply to be appointed lead plaintiff no later than September 8, 2009 and be selected by the Court. The lead plaintiff will direct the litigation and participate in important decisions including whether to accept a settlement and how much of a settlement to accept for the Class in the action. The lead plaintiff will be selected from among applicants claiming the largest loss from investment in the Company during the Class Period. You may contact Brower Piven (through hoffman@browerpiven.com or 410/986-0036) to answer any questions you may have in that regard.
The complaint accuses the defendants of violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Securities Act of 1933 by virtue of the Company’s failure to disclose during the Class Period, including in prospectuses for its dividend reinvestment program, that Manulife was unable to manage risk particularly during an economic downturn, and that notwithstanding its risk management strategy, Manulife built up a massive stock portfolio, which it chose to leave un-hedged, resulting in a huge decline in the funds available to guaranty the Separate Fund Contract (or individual variable annuities) obligations, thus forcing the Company to raise billions in capital to make up for a widening shortfall in the amount it had promised to pay customers decades from now. According to the complaint, on June 19, 2009, after the Company announced that it received an enforcement notice from the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) relating to Manulife’s disclosure of risks concerning its variable annuity guarantees and segregated funds business (the OSC notice stated that Manulife failed to meet its continuous disclosure obligations related to its exposure to market price risk in its variable annuity guarantee and Segregated Fund Contracts business), the value of Manulife’s stock declined significantly.
If you have suffered a net loss for all transactions in Manulife Financial Corporation securities during the Class Period (including shares or possibly calls purchased during, but not sold until after the end of the Class Period or possibly put options sold but not covered until after the end of the Class Period), you may obtain additional information about this lawsuit and your ability to become a lead plaintiff by contacting Brower Piven at www.browerpiven.com, by email at hoffman@browerpiven.com, by calling 410-986-0036, or at Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation, The World Trade Center-Baltimore, 401 East Pratt Street, Suite 2525, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. Attorneys at Brower Piven have combined experience litigating securities and class action cases of over 40 years. If you choose to retain counsel, you may retain Brower Piven without financial obligation or cost to you, or you may retain other counsel of your choice. You need take no action at this time to be a member of the class.
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