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Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray says he is encouraged by a recent federal court ruling granting class certification in a securities litigation against American International Group Inc. (ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½). The Feb. 22 ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York allows shareholders to proceed as a group with their lawsuit against ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½.

In response, Cordray issued the following statement:

“This ruling builds the pressure on ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ in this case. Typically, a court’s grant of class certification clears the way for determining whether a company is or is not liable for its alleged misconduct. Up until now, despite our considerable progress with these claims, ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ has refused to accept responsibility and engage in meaningful settlement discussions. If they continue their resistance, we are now cleared to take them to trial.

“The investors and retirees who were harmed by ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ have been waiting for years to be made whole. ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ has taken billions of dollars in bailout money from taxpayers and, at the same time, is seeking to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in bonus compensation that even federal regulators have called ‘outrageous.’ Today we are a substantial step closer to justice for Ohio’s pension systems and their members.”

Cordray is litigating the case on behalf of three named plaintiffs: the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System; State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio; and Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, which were named lead plaintiffs by the court in February 2005. The ruling clears the way for the lead plaintiffs to pursue claims against ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ for the entire class of investors who purchased ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ securities between Oct. 28, 1999, and April 1, 2005.

The case against ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ and its executives involve allegations of anti-competitive practices, such as market division through the use of undisclosed contingent commissions and bid-rigging, as well as allegations of a massive accounting fraud that led to a $3.9 billion restatement of ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s publicly available financial and regulatory filings. To date, the AG’S office has negotiated settlements against other defendants – including former American International Group (ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½) CEO Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg and other ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ executives – totaling $284.5 million.

Aiming to hold accountable those Wall Street institutions and executives who he says have violated laws and harmed Ohio investors, workers, retirees and families, Cordray has managed seven other such lawsuits, including those against Bank of America, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Marsh, Merrill Lynch, the Ratings Agencies and United Health Care.

More than $2 billion has been recovered to date in these suits the AG’s office said.

Topics Ohio ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½