Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (“Coughlin Stoia”) (http://www.csgrr.com/cases/mbiainc/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of MBIA, Inc. (“MBIA”) (NYSE:MBI) common stock during the period between October 26, 2006 and January 9, 2008 (the “Class Period”).
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from January 11, 2008. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Darren Robbins of Coughlin Stoia at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@csgrr.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.csgrr.com/cases/mbiainc/. Any member of the purported 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.
The complaint charges MBIA and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. MBIA, through its subsidiaries, is a leading financial guarantor and provider of specialized financial services.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business and financial results related to its insurance coverage on collateralized debt obligation (“CDO”) contracts. As a result of defendants’ false statements, MBIA stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, reaching an all-time high of $73.31 per share in December 2006.
On January 9, 2008, the Company announced it would incur a total of $737 million in loss and loss adjustment expenses for the fourth quarter of 2007, and had cut the quarterly shareholder dividend from $.34 per share to $.13 per share. On this news, MBIA’s stock price declined to as low as $11.11 per share before closing at $13.40 per share on January 9, 2008, on volume of 32 million shares, a two-day decline of 24%.
According to the complaint, the true facts, which were known by the defendants but concealed from the investing public during the Class Period, were as follows: (a) the Company lacked requisite internal controls to ensure that the Company’s underwriting standards and its internal rating system for its CDO contracts were adequate; (b) the Company concealed its exposure to CDOs containing subprime debt; (c) the Company’s financial statements were materially misstated due to its failure to properly account for its mark-to-market losses; (d) given the deterioration and the increased volatility in the mortgage market, the Company would be forced to tighten its underwriting standards related to its asset-backed securities, which would have a direct material negative impact on its premium production going forward; (e) the Company had far greater exposure to anticipated losses and defaults related to its CDO contracts containing subprime loans than it had previously disclosed; and (f) the Company had far greater exposure to a potential ratings downgrade from one of the credit ratings agencies than it had previously disclosed.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of MBIA common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Coughlin Stoia, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.
Coughlin Stoia, a 190-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Atlanta, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. The Coughlin Stoia Web site (http://www.csgrr.com) has more information about the firm.