(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray said today that he is encouraged by a civil enforcement action alleging securities fraud filed yesterday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo against Bank of America and that bank’s former CEO Kenneth Lewis and former CFO Joseph Price.

Last September, General Cordray, in concert with five public pension funds, filed a similar shareholder class action lawsuit alleging securities violations based on many of the same alleged facts at issue in General Cuomo’s lawsuit. The suit filed by Cordray and other public pension funds is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

"I am greatly encouraged by New York’s recent suit against Bank of America, Mr. Lewis and Mr. Price.  General Cuomo’s allegations appear to give independent confirmation of the purported egregious behavior that is the basis of our lead plaintiffs group’s shareholder class action filed last fall,” Cordray said.  “In our lawsuit, as in General Cuomo’s new lawsuit, we sued not only Bank of America, but also top executives who we believe were personally engaged in violations of the securities laws.  We will monitor the developments in General Cuomo’s suit as we continue to aggressively pursue claims against Bank of America and other individual defendants on behalf of shareholders.”
   
New York’s complaint alleges that Bank of America officers knew about billions of dollars in losses at Merrill Lynch prior to the merger of these companies and withheld facts from their legal counsel about the losses in an effort to keep that material information from shareholders.  Subsequently, Bank of America fired their top attorney after the shareholder vote approving the merger. The lawsuit filed by General Cordray and other public pension funds is based on many of the same alleged facts as General Cuomo’s lawsuit filed yesterday. 

The lead plaintiffs group for the class action suit filed in September includes the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, and three other public pension funds. 

For more information about the shareholder class action suit, please visit www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/SecuritiesLitigationBriefing.
 

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