JPM Here comes the ambulance chasers...LOVELL & STEWART ANNOUNCES SECURITIES FRAUD CLASS ACTION AGAINST J.P. MORGAN CHASE ALLEGING FAILURE TO DISCLOSE "OFF THE BOOKS" LENDING BUSINESS EDITORS/LEGAL WRITERS NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FEB.
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20:16 ET NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2002--The law firm of Lovell &
Stewart, LLP ((212) 608-1900 or www.lovellstewart.com) filed a class
action lawsuit on February 25, 2002 on behalf of all persons who
purchased, converted, exchanged or otherwise acquired the common stock
of JP Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM.N) or its predecessors, Chase
Manhattan Corp. (DE) and J.P. Morgan & Co., Inc., between March 1,
2000 and February 1, 2002, inclusive.
The lawsuit asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated by the SEC
thereunder and seeks to recover damages. Any member of the class may
move the Court to be named lead plaintiff. If you wish to serve as
lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than April 15, 2002.
The action, Iemmiti v. J.P. Morgan Chase, et ano., is pending in
the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (500
Pearl Street, New York, New York), Docket No. 02-CV-1461 (GEL) and has
been assigned to the Hon. Gerard E. Lynch, U.S. District Judge. The
complaint alleges that J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and William B.
Harrison, Jr., its President, violated the federal securities laws by
failing to disclose material risks of J.P. Morgan Chase's business in
its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and its press
releases during the Class Period.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that J.P. Morgan Chase's
business involved its well-established business practice of making
commodities loans transactions, derivative loan transactions, and
other transactions that were designed to be "off the books" financing
of its borrowers. These creative transactions allegedly were, in
essence, loan transactions but were dressed up as other types of
transactions. This well-established practice and J.P. Morgan Chase's
large transactions pursuant thereto allegedly subjected J.P. Morgan
Chase to large credit risks, large risks of refusal to make repayment
(or to insure performance), and even large risks of liability to the
debtor and third parties. Such substantial risks allegedly were not
disclosed to the public.
In addition, the complaint alleges that J.P. Morgan Chase's public
statements regarding its exposure relating to transactions involving
Enron Corp. were misleading and incomplete. For example, on November
21, 2001, J.P. Morgan Chase issued a public statement to the effect
that its total exposure regarding Enron was approximately $900
million. However, this figure allegedly failed to include J.P. Morgan
Chase's true exposure to Enron arising out of structuring transactions
as "off the books" loans. Only later did J.P. Morgan Chase allegedly
claim that its total Enron-related exposure risk was approximately
$2.6 billion due to such systematic practices.
The complaint further alleges that due to J.P. Morgan Chase's
failure to disclose the foregoing, persons who acquired its stock
during the Class Period paid artificially inflated prices. As a result
of even the partial disclosure of one portion of J.P. Morgan Chase's
exposure due to its "off the books" lending practices, its stock price
has fallen by 40% and federal examiners are now assessing the true
extent of JP Morgan's undisclosed risks to see whether the 2.86 times
increase in J.P. Morgan's originally understated exposure to Enron
resembles the amount of its understated exposure to the other
companies to which J.P. Morgan Chase allegedly has made loans
disguised as commodity or derivative transactions.
Christopher Lovell, the senior partner at Lovell & Stewart, has
been appointed lead counsel or co-lead counsel in numerous significant
class actions, including actions involving reportedly the largest
class action recoveries in history under three separate federal
statutes (the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Commodity Exchange Act, and
the Investment Company Act of 1940). These record-breaking recoveries
for class plaintiffs included the $1.027 billion recovery in In re:
NASDAQ Market-Makers Antitrust Litigation and a $145.35 million
recovery in 1999 in In re: Sumitomo Copper Litigation, a class action
against various parties who conspired to manipulate the worldwide
copper and copper futures markets for their own profit.
Investors who acquired the common stock of J.P. Morgan Chase and
its predecessors during the period March 1, 2000 through February 1,
2002 inclusive may contact Lovell & Stewart at the telephone number,
address or E-mail address below for more information regarding the
class action lawsuit. Investors can also visit Lovell & Stewart's
website at www.lovellstewart.com to view a copy of the complaint.
CONTACT: Lovell & Stewart, LLP, Christopher Lovell or Christopher
J. Gray, 500 Fifth Avenue New York, New York 10110, (212) 608-1900
--30--sw/ny*
CONTACT: Lovell & Stewart, LLP, New York
Christopher Lovell or Christopher J. Gray, 212/608-1900
sklovell@aol.com
TICKER: NYSE:JPM
KEYWORD: NEW YORK
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: LEGAL/LAW CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS
SOURCE: Lovell & Stewart, LLP
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