Stockholders v Ambac Financial Group, Inc.
Stockholders File Lawsuit Against Ambac Financial Group, Inc.
On March 17, 2008, two motions to appoint certain individuals as lead plaintiffs were filed. While an order denying motion to appoint Inter-Local Pension Fund GCC/IBT as lead plaintiff, it granted motion to appoint U.S. Public Pension Fund instead as lead plaintiff on May 09, 2008.
According to a press release dated January 16, 2008, the complaint charges Ambac and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Ambac is a holding company whose subsidiaries provide financial guarantee products and other financial services to clients in both the public and private sectors around the world. The Company and its subsidiaries operate in two segments: financial guarantee and financial services.
Specifically, 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 obligations ("CDO") contracts. 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: (i) that 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, and, as a result, the Company's projections and reported results issued during the Class Period were based upon defective assumptions and/or manipulated facts; (ii) that the Company's financial statements were materially misstated due to its failure to properly account for its mark-to-market losses; (iii) that, 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; (iv) that the Company had far greater exposure to anticipated losses and defaults related to its CDO contracts containing subprime loans, including even highly rated CDOs, than it had previously disclosed; (v) that the Company had far greater exposure to a potential ratings downgrade from one of the credit ratings agencies than it had previously disclosed; and (vi) that defendants' Class Period statements about the Company's selective underwriting practices during the 2005 through 2007 timeframe related to its CDOs backed by subprime assets were patently false; as the Company's underwriting standards were at best aggressive and at a minimum were completely inadequate. As the truth began to be disclosed, shares of Ambac common stock plummeted, causing substantial losses to investors.
