HOUSTON, Sept. 19, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Emerson Firm, a securities class action trial law firm, announced today that a class action has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all purchasers of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Technology Fund shares, of all four share classes (Nasdaq:TEKAX) (Nasdaq:TEKBX) (Nasdaq:TEKCX) (Nasdaq:TEKDX) from the public offering for the Fund on September 25, 2000 through July 31, 2002, inclusive (the "Class Period") against Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. ("MSDW"), Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Technology Fund (the "Fund") and others for violations of Sections 11, 12 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933 and of other federal statutory law. The Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Technology Fund recently changed its name to the Morgan Stanley Technology Fund. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be obtained by making a toll free call to Investor Relations Department.
The defendants were: (1) the underwriters for the common stock of certain of the companies in the Technology Fund's portfolio; (2) the investment bankers and corporate finance specialists for certain of the companies whose securities are in the Fund's portfolio; (3) seeking to obtain additional investment banking business from these present and former clients and from other companies whose shares also were/are in the Fund's portfolio; (4) the issuers of the shares in the Fund; (5) preparing and publicly disseminating research reports and recommendations on many of the companies whose shares were in the Fund's portfolio; and (6) the broker for certain members of the Class.
This action arises as a result of the issuance by the defendants of shares in the Fund, and concerns material misstatements and omissions by defendants in the Prospectus, relating to defendants' conflicts of interest, which include but are not limited to the following: (1) defendants failed to disclose and omitted material information that MSDW had had investment banking relationships with, including having brought public, certain of the companies whose securities were part of the Fund's portfolio. Defendants disclosed neither this general fact nor the identities of the particular companies with which it had investment banking relationships; (2) defendants failed to disclose and omitted material information concerning that MSDW was continuing to seek investment banking relationships with many of the companies whose securities were part of the Fund's portfolio; and (3) defendants failed to disclose and omitted material information concerning that a material part of the total compensation paid to MSDW research analysts was based upon obtaining investment banking business for MSDW and not upon the accuracy of their research about a given company. Hence, MSDW and its affiliated companies including the Fund recommended investments in and/or invested in companies in order to enhance MSDW's opportunity to obtain investment banking business from those companies (without regard to whether they were good investments for the investors including plaintiffs and the Class).
If you bought Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Technology Fund shares between September 25, 2000 through July 31, 2002, inclusive, and either lost money on the transaction or still hold the securities, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than October 21, 2002. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action by contacting the Investor Relations Department of The Emerson Firm as indicated below. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through The Emerson Firm or other counsel of their choice.
The Emerson Firm has significant experience prosecuting class actions on behalf of investors. The Firm has offices in both Houston and Little Rock, Arkansas, and represents investors throughout the country. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact the Investor Relations Department of The Emerson Firm by calling Ms. Tanya Autry toll free at (800) 663-9817 or by e-mail at the address below.
THE EMERSON FIRM Investor Relations Department: Ms. Tanya R. Autry 830 Apollo Lane Houston, Texas 77058 Toll Free: 1-800-663-9817 E-mail: tanya.autry@worldnet.att.net
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca.