On July 23, 2003, the court granted final approval to the parties' $2 million settlement of several class actions filed against financial services company Towne Services, Inc. (formerly Nasdaq: TWNE) and certain of its officers and directors by stockholders who purchased the company's common stock between June 23 and October 13, 1999. The actions claim that the defendants violated federal securities laws by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market in connection with a secondary public offering by the company, thereby artificially inflating the price of the company's securities. To recover under the settlement, a completed proof of claim postmarked no later than September 15, 2003, must be mailed to the claims administrator.

The action alleges that the prospectus and registration statement for the company's secondary public offering declared effective on June 23, 1999, contained material omissions relating to problems that the company had experienced immediately prior to the offering in transferring its corporate headquarters and customer management and data processing facilities to a new location in Georgia.

Towne Services was acquired by rival Private Business, Inc. in 2001 and its stock is no longer traded.