Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Oppenheimer Funds, Inc. ("Oppenheimer") on behalf of purchasers of the Rochester Fund Municipals ("Rochester" or the "Fund") (NASDAQ: RMUNX) (NASDAQ: RMUBX) (NASDAQ: RMUCX) from February 26, 2006 through October 21, 2008 (the "Class Period").
The complaint charges Oppenheimer, the Fund and certain of its Trustees with violations of the Securities Act of 1933. The suit claims Oppenheimer, which runs the Fund, misled investors about the risks of investing in the Fund, resulting in an over 30% decline in the Fund's value. The lawsuit identifies the following funds as affected: A Shares (RMUNX), B Shares (RMUBX) and C Shares (RMUCX).
The complaint 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 accept 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.
On October 21, 2008, Rochester filed a Prospectus Supplement which disclosed the relevant risks associated with the Fund's investment in Inverse Floaters. As of October 21, 2008, the Fund's shares traded at $12.35 per share, down from $18.00 per share at the beginning of the year.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all those who purchased shares of Rochester Fund Municipals from February 26, 2006 through October 21, 2008. The Plaintiff is represented by Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP which has extensive experience in securities class action cases, having been ranked among the leading class action law firms in terms of recoveries achieved by a survey of class action law firms conducted by Institutional Shareholder Services.
If you would like to discuss this action or if you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights as a potential class member or lead plaintiff, you may contact: Jeffrey Abraham or Jack Fruchter of Abraham, Fruchter & Twersky, LLP at 212-279-5050, or via e-mail at jabraham@aftlaw.com or jfruchter@aftlaw.com, respectively. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than sixty days from today. Any member of the proposed class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain a member of the proposed class.