Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. B2B Internet Holder Depository Receipts : Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith - Securities Class Action

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_______________
Copyright (c) 2001
Stanford Law School

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. B2B Internet Holder Depository Receipts : Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Conclusion: According to Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.’s RM 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 28, 2007, on August 14, 2007, plaintiffs filed amended class action complaints that seek to address the issues raised by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals December 5, 2006, decision denying class certification. Plaintiffs are seeking class certification in connection with the amended complaints, and defendants are opposing those efforts.

As summarized byMerrill Lynch & Co., Inc.’s FORM 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2005, Merrill Lynch has been named as one of the defendants in approximately 110 securities class action complaints alleging that dozens of underwriting defendants, including Merrill Lynch, artificially inflated and maintained the stock prices of the relevant securities by creating an artificially high aftermarket demand for shares. On October 13, 2004, the district court, having previously denied defendants’ motions to dismiss, issued an order allowing certain of these cases to proceed against the underwriters as class actions. On June 30, 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit entered an order agreeing to review the district court’s order granting plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. The matter has now been fully briefed, and the parties are awaiting a decision from the Court of Appeals.

The complaint alleges that the Registration Statement filed with the SEC on February 24, 2000 for the issuance and initial public offering (IPO) of one million Depository Receipts called B2B Internet Holdrs depositary receipts contained material misrepresentation and/or omissions. The complaint further alleges that the B2B Internet Holdrs depositary receipts were "basket securities" whose price was directly related to, and moved with, the price of 20 underlying securities held in the B2B Internet Holdrs trust. The complaint further alleges that defendants violated the federal securities laws by issuing and selling B2B Internet Holdrs Depositary Receipts, in an IPO on February 23, 2000, pursuant to a registration statement and prospectus that were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose that a substantial proportion of the B2B Internet Holdrs trust's initial portfolio consisted of stocks whose prices had been artificially inflated through the use of improper practices relating to their initial public offering, and that they therefore traded at artificially inflated prices. The price of B2B Internet Holdrs has fallen from a March 14, 2000 high of $108 per B2B Internet Holdr to a low of $4.26 on April 3, 2001.

INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION:
SIC Code: 7389
Sector: Financial
Industry: Investment Services

COMPANY/ISSUER NAME:	Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
COMPANY/ISSUER TICKER:	BHH
COMPANY WEBSITE:	http://www.ml.com

FIRST IDENTIFIED COMPLAINT IN THE DATABASE

[Unknown plaintiff], et al. v. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., et al.

COURT: S.D. New York	DOCKET NUMBER: 01-CV-2858
JUDGE NAME: Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin
DATE FILED: 04/04/2001	SOURCE: Business Wires
CLASS PERIOD START: 02/23/2000	CLASS PERIOD END: 04/04/2001
TYPE OF COMPLAINT: Complaint (Unamended and Unconsolidated)
PLAINTIFF FIRMS NAMED IN COMPLAINT:
Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz LLP (New York, NY) 10 E. 40th Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY, 10016 (voice) 800.217.1522, (fax) , info@bernlieb.com Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll PLLC (Seattle WA) 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 6860, Seattle, WA, 98014 (voice) 206.521.0080, (fax) 206.521.0166, lawinfo@cmht.com Lovell Stewart Halebian LLP (former New York) 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10110 (voice) 212.608.1900, (fax) 212.719.4677, info@lshllp.com Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP (San Diego, CA) 600 West Broadway, 1800 One America Plaza, San Diego, CA, 92101 (voice) 800.449.4900, (fax) , support@milberg.com Rabin & Peckel LLP 275 Madison Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY, 10016 (voice) 212.682.1818, (fax) 212.682.1892, email@rabinlaw.com Schoengold & Sporn PC (New York) 233 Broadway 39Th Floor, New York, NY, 10279 (voice) 212.964.0046, (fax) , Sirota & Sirota LLP 110 Wall Street 21st Floor, New York, NY, 10005 (voice) 888.759.2990, (fax) 212.425.9093, Info@SirotaLaw.com Wechsler Harwood LLP 488 Madison Avenue 8th Floor, New York, NY, 10022 (voice) 212.935.7400, (fax) , info@whhf.com Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP (New York) 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10016 (voice) 212.545.4600, (fax) 212.686.0114, newyork@whafh.com _____________________________________________ TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAINTIFF FIRMS: 9

DOCUMENTS FOR THE FIRST IDENTIFIED COMPLAINT

Type:		Date on the document:

REFERENCE COMPLAINT

In Re B2B Internet Holdrs Initial Public Offering Securities Litigation

COURT: S.D. New York	DOCKET NUMBER: 01-CV-2858
JUDGE NAME: Hon. Shira A. Scheindlin
DATE FILED: 04/19/2002	SOURCE: Business Wires
CLASS PERIOD START: 02/23/2000	CLASS PERIOD END: 12/06/2000
TYPE OF COMPLAINT: Consolidated Complaint
PLAINTIFF FIRMS NAMED IN COMPLAINT:
Bernstein Liebhard & Lifshitz LLP (New York, NY) 10 E. 40th Street, 22nd Floor, New York, NY, 10016 (voice) 800.217.1522, (fax) , info@bernlieb.com Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP (New York, NY) One Pennsylvania Plaza, New York, NY, 10119-1065 (voice) 212.594.5300, (fax) , Schiffrin & Barroway LLP 3 Bala Plaza E, Bala Cynwyd, PA, 19004 (voice) 610.667.7706, (fax) 610.667.7056, info@sbclasslaw.com Sirota & Sirota LLP 110 Wall Street 21st Floor, New York, NY, 10005 (voice) 888.759.2990, (fax) 212.425.9093, Info@SirotaLaw.com Stull, Stull & Brody (New York) 6 East 45th Street, New York, NY, 10017 (voice) 310.209.2468, (fax) 310.209.2087, SSBNY@aol.com Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP (New York) 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY, 10016 (voice) 212.545.4600, (fax) 212.686.0114, newyork@whafh.com _____________________________________________ TOTAL NUMBER OF PLAINTIFF FIRMS: 6

DOCUMENTS FOR THE REFERENCE COMPLAINT
Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint For Violations Of The Federal Securities Laws
Type: Complaint		Date on the document: 04/19/2002
U.S. District Court Civil Docket
Type: Docket		Date on the document: 09/30/2004
U.S. District Court Civil Docket
Type: Notice		Date on the document: 08/27/2007

OTHER DOCUMENTS
Complaint for Violation of Federal Securities Laws
Case Name and/or Number: Stanley M. Klein, et al. v. Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, Inc.
Type: Complaint		Date on the document: 04/10/2001

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