| Company: | Manulife Financial |
| Ticker Symbol: | MFC |
| Class Period: | Mar-28-08 to Jun-22-09 |
| Date Filed: | Jul-10-09 |
| Lead Plaintiff Deadline: | Sep-8-09 |
| Court: | Southern District of New York |
| Allegations: | |
The Complaint charges Manulife and certain of the Company's executive officers with violations of federal securities laws.
On June 19, 2009, after the market closed, Manulife announced that it received an enforcement notice from the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC") relating to Manulife's disclosure of risks concerning its variable annuity guarantee and segregated funds business. The OSC notice stated that Manulife failed to meet its continuous disclosure obligations related to its exposure to market price risk in its variable annuity guarantee and Segregated Fund Contracts business. Segregated Fund Contracts are insurance contracts also known as individual variable annuities that offer death benefits and maturity guarantees.
The complaint alleges that Manulife made false and misleading statements regarding its ability to manage and control risk. In fact, contrary to the Company's own risk management strategy, Manulife applied no material hedging strategy to manage risk particularly during an economic downturn. The complaint further alleges that notwithstanding its risk management strategy Manulife built up a massive stock portfolio, which it chose to leave unhedged. This resulted in a huge decline in the funds available to guaranty the Separate Fund Contract obligations, forcing the Company to raise billions in capital to make up for a widening shortfall in the amount it had promised to pay customers decades from now.
Investors responded to the OSC's announcement when trading markets reopened on June 22, 2009. The Company's shares dropped 12% to close at $17.67 on an unusually high trading volume of almost 8 million shares.
If you acquired the securities of the defendants during the Class Period you may, no later than the Lead Plaintiff Deadline shown above, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff through counsel of your choice. You may also choose to remain an absent class member. A lead plaintiff must meet certain requirements.
