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Four Ohio public pension funds and the New York State Common Retirement Fund are seeking to be named joint lead plaintiffs in a class action against BP Plc ("BP" or the "Company") that aims to recover investment losses related to the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The case against BP, certain of its officers and directors, and BP America, Inc. (the "Defendants") stems from violations of federal securities laws. Specifically, the complaints allege that the Defendants made false and misleading statements regarding BP's safety protocols, operations, and safety record, as well as the Company's ability to respond to a major oil spill. The truth about those false and misleading claims began to emerge on April 20, 2010, when an explosion on BP's mobile offshore drilling unit, Deepwater Horizon, caused an oil leak with devastating environmental and economic consequences. As the full impact of the spill became known, BP's stock fell approximately 40%, eliminating billions of dollars in the Company's total market capitalization value. Since that time, investors have filed multiple securities class actions alleging violations of state and federal law. In a memorandum filed July 20, 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana in Lafayette, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Ohio Attorney General Richard A. Cordray asked the Court to appoint the funds co-lead plaintiffs. Pledging to work together to prosecute the case, the funds asked the Court to approve their selection of Berman DeValerio and Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll as co-lead counsel and to consolidate multiple cases filed in various jurisdictions. According to the court filings, the New York and Ohio funds estimated their combined losses as ranging from $181 million to $229.4 million, depending on the calculation methodology, on transactions between June 20, 2005 and June 1, 2010. The retirement systems are the $132.6 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund; the $71.3 billion Ohio Public Employees Retirement System; the $60.9 billion State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio; the $9.6 billion School Employees Retirement System of Ohio; and the $10.1 billion Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund. Click here to view the motion for lead plaintiff and the memorandum in support. |