SEATTLE, Dec. 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is investigating Sterling Financial Corp. ("Sterling") (Nasdaq:STSA) for potential violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"). Hagens Berman's investigation focuses on investments in Sterling stock in the Sterling Savings Bank Employee Savings and Investment Plan and Trust (the "Plan"), and involves concerns that the administrators of the Plan may have breached their duties of loyalty and prudence to participants and beneficiaries of the Plan. A breach may have occurred under ERISA if the plan administrators failed to manage the assets of the Plan prudently and loyally by investing the assets in Sterling stock when it was no longer a prudent investment for participants' retirement savings.
Recently filed litigation alleges that Sterling violated federal securities laws by issuing materially false and misleading statements regarding Sterling's business and financial results and engaged in improper behavior which harmed Sterling's investors by failing to disclose the extent of seriously delinquent commercial real estate loans and construction and land loans. Sterling also failed to adequately and timely record losses for its impaired loans, causing its financial results and its Tier 1 capital ratio to be materially false. As the extent of the company's problems has begun to be revealed, Sterling's stock price has dropped precipitously, causing massive losses to the Plan and its participants. Hagens Berman is investigating whether the Plan's fiduciaries may bear liability for these losses.
If you are a current or former employee of Sterling Savings Bank and hold Sterling stock in the Sterling Savings Bank Employee Savings and Investment Plan and Trust, we encourage you to contact our attorneys at 206-623-7292 to discuss circumstances and whether or not you believe you could be involved.
About Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro is based in Seattle with offices in Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and New York. Since the firm's founding in 1993, it has developed a nationally recognized practice in class action and complex litigation. Among recent successes, HBSS has negotiated a pending $300 million settlement as lead counsel in the DRAM memory antitrust litigation; a $340 million recovery on behalf of Enron employees which is awaiting distribution; a $150 million settlement involving charges of illegally inflated charges for the drug Lupron, and served as co-counsel on the Visa/Mastercard litigation which resulted in a $3 billion settlement, the largest anti-trust settlement to date. HBSS also served as counsel in a $850 million settlement in the Washington Public Power Supply litigation and represented Washington and 12 other states in lawsuits against the tobacco industry that resulted in the largest settlement in the history of litigation. For a complete listing of HBSS cases, visit www.hbsslaw.com.