NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Wechsler Harwood Halebian & Feffer LLP ("Wechsler Harwood") filed a class action lawsuit on July 26, 2002 on behalf of all persons who purchased, exchanged or otherwise acquired the common stock of Capital One Financial Corp. ("Capital One" or the "Company") (NYSE:COF) between January 15, 2002 and July 16, 2002 inclusive (the "Class Period") in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Capital One, Richard D. Fairbank (Company CEO and Chairman), Nigel W. Morris (Company President and COO) and David M. Willey ("Willey").
The lawsuit asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated by the SEC thereunder and seeks to recover damages. Any member of the class may move the Court to be named lead plaintiff. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than September 17, 2002. In order to be appointed lead plaintiff, the Court must determine, among other things, that the class member's claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by whether or not you serve as a lead plaintiff.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that Capital One issued numerous press releases regarding its performance during the Class Period which represented that the Company was experiencing quarter after quarter of record earnings and revenue growth while maintaining "stringent risk management practices" and adequate loan loss reserves. The complaint further alleges that these, and other, representations were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose that Capital One was in violation of federal guidelines regarding adequate levels of capitalization and loan loss reserves and that it was not effectively managing its rapid growth. On July 16, 2002, Capital One revealed that it had entered into an agreement with regulators, which required Capital One to boost reserves by $247 million in the second quarter of 2002, tie-up additional capital and institute infrastructure reforms in order to deal adequately with its high rate of growth, especially in the subprime market. In reaction to the announcement, Capital One's stock plummeted by 39%, falling from a $50.60 per share close on July 16 to $30.48 per share by the close of July 17, on extremely heavy trading volume. During the Class Period, as alleged in the complaint, Capital One insiders, including defendant Willey, profited by selling a total of over $8.2 million in Capital One common stock at artificially inflated prices and the Company undertook a convertible debt offering for $650 million on April 19, 2002.
Wechsler Harwood has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded shareholders. The Wechsler Harwood website (www.whhf.com) has more information about the firm. If you wish to discuss this action with us, or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights and interests with regard to the case, please contact the following:
Wechsler Harwood Halebian & Feffer LLP 488 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor New York, New York 10022 Toll Free Telephone: (877) 935-7400 David Leifer, Wechsler Harwood Shareholder Relations Department: dleifer@whhf.com
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca