LITTLE ROCK, Ark., June 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emerson Poynter LLP (www.emersonpoynter.com) , a national law firm with offices in Little Rock, Arkansas and Houston, Texas, announces that it has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of all persons who purchased Class A and/or Class B and/or Class C shares of the Oppenheimer AMT-Free Municipals Fund (the "Fund") (Nasdaq:OPTAX) (Nasdaq:OTFBX) (Nasdaq:OMFCX) during the period from May 13, 2006 to October 21, 2008, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (09-CV-01447).
If you are a member of the class, please visit our website (www.emersonpoynter.com) to view a copy of the complaint.
In the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that OppenheimerFunds, Inc., OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc., the Fund and certain of its trustees and officers violated Sections 11, 12 (a)(2), and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, which prohibit materially false and misleading statements in registration statements and prospectuses of the kind used to sell shares in the Fund. The Fund invests primarily in municipal securities.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that during the Class Period the Fund failed to disclose risk factors associated with the Fund's investments, including, but not limited to: (1) the Fund's investments in "inverse floater" securities that exposed it to the risk that it would be forced to sell, upon certain occurrences relating to the inverse floater securities, other securities in its portfolio at fire-sale prices. This amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars in undisclosed potential liabilities; and (2) the Fund's over concentration of investments in illiquid securities in violation of its 15% cap by investing in illiquid tobacco bonds and ordinary municipal bond and notes that could turn illiquid quickly.
On October 21, 2008, the Fund filed a prospectus supplement alerting investors of the true liquidity risks of its investments -- the same risks that existed in 2006, 2007 and throughout 2008. By October 2008, however, those risks had already manifested, causing substantial losses to investors. On October 21, 2008, the Fund's shares traded at approximately $5.96 per share, down from $8.93 per share at the beginning of the year, an approximate decline of 33.3% per share for the year. The Fund was among the worst performing in its peer group.
According to the complaint, after the end of the Class Period, the Fund belatedly disclosed liabilities and residual exposure from the inverse floaters, about which investors were not previously told. On December 18, 2008, the Fund reported in its Quarterly Schedule of Portfolio Holdings for the period ending October 31, 2008, filed on Form N-Q with the SEC ("October 31, 2008 Form N-Q"), that the amount of its exposure to the effects of leverage from its investments in inverse floaters exceeded $240.7 million as of October 31, 2008. Additionally, the Fund also reported that its municipal bond holdings with a value of approximately $402.4 million were held by Trusts created by the inverse floaters and served as collateral for approximately $324.1 million in short-term floating rate notes issued and outstanding at that date, and that its residual exposure to the inverse floating rate securities was estimated at nearly $218.7 million. The massive liabilities and exposure of more than $500 million were not disclosed in any Registration Statements issued during the Class Period.
If you purchased Class A and/or Class B and/or Class C shares of the Oppenheimer AMT-Free Municipals Fund during the period from May 13, 2006 to October 21, 2008, please contact us about your rights and potential claims. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the court by July 13, 2009.
Emerson Poynter LLP has a national and international class action legal practice with offices in Little Rock, Arkansas and Houston, Texas. Emerson Poynter handles complex commercial litigation with a concentration in those cases that involve violations of federal and state securities or antitrust laws, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), and consumer protection laws. The Firm has substantial experience in litigating large complex class-action cases and serves in a leadership position in numerous cases.