According to the latest docket posted, on March 3, 2006, the Court entered the Order and Final Judgment, signed by U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo, settling the action. That same day, a notice of appeal was filed from the Judgment. The settlement is currently pending in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Pursuant to the settlement described in the Notice Of Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement, Motion For Attorneys’ Fees And Settlement Fairness Hearing, $46,000,000 (US$) will be made available for the benefit of purchasers of the APP Instruments.The Court will hold a Settlement Fairness Hearing at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, February 27, 2006, at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, 40 Centre Street, New York, New York 10007. At this hearing the Court will consider whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate. At the Settlement Fairness Hearing, the Court also will consider the proposed Plan of Allocation for the proceeds of the Settlement and the application of Plaintiffs’ Co-Lead Counsel for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of expenses.
On November 26, 2003, the Court granted the Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint against one of the defendants, Anderson Worldwide Societe Cooperative. The plaintiffs filed a Notice of Appeal and on, October 8, 2004, the appeal was withdrawn from the USCA.
The Defendants moved to dismiss the case on May 21, 2002. Thereafter, on May 30, 2002 the Court denied Defendants’’ motion to dismiss, and Plaintiffs filed a Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint on June 5, 2002. The Defendants filed a renewed motion to dismiss the Consolidated Amended Class Action Complaint on July 8, 2002. The Court sustained the Complaint and discovery is ongoing in 2004.
The original class action lawsuit was filed alleging that defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of material misrepresentations to the market between September 8, 1998 and April 4, 2001, thereby artificially inflating the price of Asia Pulp & Paper securities. Specifically, the complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Asia Pulp & Paper issued press releases and filed financial statements which failed to disclose, among other things, that the Company had entered into two swap contracts involving Indonesian rupiah/US dollar and Japanese yen/US dollar swaps. On April 4, 2001, Asia Pulp & Paper finally disclosed that it was in default of $220 million of swap contracts that had not been disclosed on its financial statements for fiscal years 1997 to 2000. The stunning announcement followed a steady stream of news reports that Asia Pulp & Paper was facing a strong decline in its business and, as a result, was unable to service its debt. During the Class Period, Asia Pulp & Paper was able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in much needed capital through the issuance of bonds and a secondary offering of its American Depositary Shares. ASIA PULP & PAPER CO.'S American depositary receipts are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, though trading has been suspended since April 4. An item in the World Watch column yesterday incorrectly stated the company also is listed in Singapore.
