PHILADELPHIA, June 4, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Law Offices Bernard M. Gross, P.C. commenced a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court, Central District of California on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of (NYSE:BP), between April 16, 2009 and May 21, 2010, inclusive (the "Class Period"), against BP and Anthony Hayward for violations of §§10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from May 21, 2010. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of its choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. If you wish to discuss this action or any questions concerning this notice, please contact plaintiffs' counsel, Deborah R. Gross or Susan R. Gross at 866-561-3600 or via email at debbie@bernardmgross.com or susang@bernardmgross.com. A copy of the complaint can be viewed at www.bernardmgross.com.
BP is an oil and petrochemical company. BP had a board of directors meeting in California in 2009. The Complaint alleges that defendants made false and misleading statements and omitted to disclose material information during the Class Period concerning the facts that BP (a) was ill equipped to deal with a catastrophe; (b) had not taken the necessary precautions to prevent such a disaster from occurring, such as the installation of a backup blowout prevention valve on the sea floor; (c) had not prepared an exploration plan which adequately analyzed the project's oil spill risks; and (d) had not undertaken a risk assessment to determine whether, if such a catastrophe occurred, BP would be operationally able to contend with an oil spill or financially able to be responsible.
On April 21, 2010, the first trading day following the accident, the price of BP common closed at $59.10. Initially, limited information was available as to the harm caused, the reasons for the failure and the extent of BP's liability. On April 24, 2010, two oil leaks were found, with an estimated 1000 barrels a day leaking. As a result of this disclosure, BP's common stock price decreased from a close of $58.90 on April 23, 2010, to a close of $56.96 on April 26, 2010.
But the full truth had still not been disclosed. On April 29, 2010, BP disclosed that it had detected an additional leak, and now, 5,000 barrels a day were leaking. As a result of these disclosures, BP's stock price dropped from a close of $56.40 on April 28, 2010 to a close on April 29, 2010 of $51.70. On May 21, 2010, BP launched a live webcam of the riser flow and experts and BP both admitted that the prior estimates of the leakage were incorrect, and as of May 21, 2010, BP's stock price closed at $43.86.
Plaintiffs are represented by Law Offices Bernard M. Gross, P.C. The firm has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.
Any questions, PLEASE CONTACT:
Law Offices Bernard M. Gross, P.C.
Susan R. Gross, Esquire
Deborah R. Gross, Esquire
Telephone: 866-561-3600 (toll free)
E-mail: susang@bernardmgross.com or
debbie@bernardmgross.com
Website: http://www.bernardmgross.com ;