ID :
38094
Tue, 12/30/2008 - 16:09
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/38094
The shortlink copeid
US class action without foundation: ANZ
AAP - ANZ Banking Group Ltd (ANZ) says a class action against it by US law firm Vianale & Vianale LLP over Opes Prime disclosures is without foundation.
The Florida-based securities litigation firm filed a complaint in the US on Monday,
alleging ANZ violated US securities laws by failing to adequately disclose the range
of risks arising from its loans to Opes Prime.
No aggregate value for the class action was disclosed.
"ANZ had lent hundreds of millions of dollars to this failed brokerage house, but
without adequate disclosure of the risks the loans posed to ANZ," the US law firm
said in a statement.
It is taking the action on behalf of purchasers of ANZ's American Depositary
Receipts (ADRs) - negotiable US securities representing a non-US company's publicly
traded equity - traded from March 2, 2007 to July 27, 2008.
Vianale & Vianale said that the day before ANZ announced its exposure to Opes Prime,
the bank's ADRs closed at a high of $US17.24.
"The following day, after ANZ's announcement, ANZ's stock price dropped to
$US14.57," the law firm said.
ANZ's ADRs trading through the Bank of New York Mellon closed at $US10.32 in New
York overnight.
ANZ said it would defend itself vigorously against the complaint filed in Manhattan
federal court.
An ANZ spokesman said on Tuesday that the bank had no financial disclosure
obligation in relation to Opes Prime.
"The matter is not financially material to ANZ nor has there been a financial loss,"
he said.
"The action by Vianale & Vianale appears strange.
"The action is without foundation, and we will obviously be defending it vigorously."
"Of the losses suffered by ADR purchasers, ANZ said: "The share price movements
quoted (by the law firm) appear to relate to the bank's earnings updated during 2008
and the disclosures made relating to credit intermediation trades, not Opes Prime".
Opes Prime, which specialised in the borrowing and lending of securities, collapsed
on March 27 after cash and stock movement irregularities were uncovered in a small
number of accounts.
About 1,200 Opes clients lost shares they had placed with Opes in return for margin
loans, when the major secured creditors of Opes - ANZ, Merrill Lynch and Dresdner
Kleinwort - began selling a pool of nearly $1.6 billion in shares in a bid to
recover money owed to them by Opes.
Opes had on-loaned the shares to the banks, but Opes clients have said they were
under the belief that they retained ownership of the shares.
The plaintiffs in the class action launched on Monday will join a queue of legal
actions taken against the bank over Opes Prime, including a $100 million class
action taken by local listed law firm Slater & Gordon Ltd last May on behalf of
Opes' former clients.
Shares in ANZ finished five cents, or 0.33 per cent, lower at $15.25.
The Florida-based securities litigation firm filed a complaint in the US on Monday,
alleging ANZ violated US securities laws by failing to adequately disclose the range
of risks arising from its loans to Opes Prime.
No aggregate value for the class action was disclosed.
"ANZ had lent hundreds of millions of dollars to this failed brokerage house, but
without adequate disclosure of the risks the loans posed to ANZ," the US law firm
said in a statement.
It is taking the action on behalf of purchasers of ANZ's American Depositary
Receipts (ADRs) - negotiable US securities representing a non-US company's publicly
traded equity - traded from March 2, 2007 to July 27, 2008.
Vianale & Vianale said that the day before ANZ announced its exposure to Opes Prime,
the bank's ADRs closed at a high of $US17.24.
"The following day, after ANZ's announcement, ANZ's stock price dropped to
$US14.57," the law firm said.
ANZ's ADRs trading through the Bank of New York Mellon closed at $US10.32 in New
York overnight.
ANZ said it would defend itself vigorously against the complaint filed in Manhattan
federal court.
An ANZ spokesman said on Tuesday that the bank had no financial disclosure
obligation in relation to Opes Prime.
"The matter is not financially material to ANZ nor has there been a financial loss,"
he said.
"The action by Vianale & Vianale appears strange.
"The action is without foundation, and we will obviously be defending it vigorously."
"Of the losses suffered by ADR purchasers, ANZ said: "The share price movements
quoted (by the law firm) appear to relate to the bank's earnings updated during 2008
and the disclosures made relating to credit intermediation trades, not Opes Prime".
Opes Prime, which specialised in the borrowing and lending of securities, collapsed
on March 27 after cash and stock movement irregularities were uncovered in a small
number of accounts.
About 1,200 Opes clients lost shares they had placed with Opes in return for margin
loans, when the major secured creditors of Opes - ANZ, Merrill Lynch and Dresdner
Kleinwort - began selling a pool of nearly $1.6 billion in shares in a bid to
recover money owed to them by Opes.
Opes had on-loaned the shares to the banks, but Opes clients have said they were
under the belief that they retained ownership of the shares.
The plaintiffs in the class action launched on Monday will join a queue of legal
actions taken against the bank over Opes Prime, including a $100 million class
action taken by local listed law firm Slater & Gordon Ltd last May on behalf of
Opes' former clients.
Shares in ANZ finished five cents, or 0.33 per cent, lower at $15.25.
