NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following statement was issued today by Squitieri & Fearon, LLP:
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that Squitieri & Fearon has instituted a Class Action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of purchasers of the Rochester Fund Municipals ("Rochester" or the "Fund") (Nasdaq:RMUNX) (Nasdaq:RMUCX) (Nasdaq:RMUBX) from February 26, 2006 through October 21, 2008 (the "Class Period").
The Complaint alleges that Rochester and its manager, Oppenheimer Funds, Inc. ("Oppenheimer") and certain of its Trustees misled investors about the risks of investing in Rochester which resulted in an over 30% decline in the Fund's value.
The Complaint further alleges that the Registration Statements through which shares of the Fund were sold failed to disclose that under certain circumstances Trusts which contain Inverse Floaters, such as those employed by the Fund, may be put to the Fund for repayment of principal. This caused the Trusts to be collapsed and required the Fund to repay the principal amount of the tendered securities. In order to do so, the Fund was forced to sell securities from its portfolio regardless of market conditions and accepted prices far below the values at which the bonds were carried on its books.
This risk factor was always present wherever inverse floaters were employed. However, no disclosure was made in any of the Prospectuses filed as part of Registration Statements with respect to the sale of the Fund's shares. Because of this lack of disclosure, the Fund's shares traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of himself and all those who purchased shares of Rochester Fund Municipals from February 26, 2006 through October 21, 2008. Excluded from the Class are the defendants and members of their immediate families, any entity in which a defendant has a controlling interest and the heirs of any such excluded party.
Plaintiff is represented by the law firm of Squitieri & Fearon, LLP which has significant experience and expertise prosecuting class actions on behalf of investors and shareholders.
If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than 60 days from February 27, 2009, move the court to serve as lead plaintiff of the Class, if you so choose.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interest, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Lee Squitieri of Squitieri & Fearon, LLP at (212) 421-6492; lee@sfclasslaw.com.