FBF Fleetboston Financial Corp

Cauley Geller Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against NYSE Specialist Firms On Behalf of Investors NEW YORK, Oct. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Law Firm of Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, LLP announced today that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all those persons or entities who purchased and/or sold shares of stocks of NYSE and AMEX listed companies that were auctioned by defendants LaBranche & Co., LLC, Bear Wagner Specialists LLC, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg Specialists LLC, Van der Moolen Specialists USA, and Fleet Specialist, Inc. ("Defendant Specialists") between October 17, 1998 and October 15, 2003, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on the firm's website at http://www.cauleygeller.com/show_case.asp?ccode=183&pcode=10&pp=4 . The complaint charges LaBranche & Co., Inc. (NYSE:LAB), LaBranche & Co., LLC, G. Michael LaBranche, Bear Wagner Specialists LLC, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg Specialists LLC, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg LP, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) , Van der Moolen Specialists USA, LLC, FleetBoston Financial Corporation (NYSE:FBF), and Fleet Specialist, Inc. with violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. The defendants and/or their subsidiaries act as specialty firms on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") and American Stock Exchange ("AMEX"). The Defendant Specialists are required to uphold the rules and requirements of the NYSE and AMEX. One such requirement that the Defendant Specialists must adhere to is called the "negative obligation." The negative obligation is the duty to hang back and not trade for the specialist firm's own account when enough public investor orders exist to pair up naturally, without undue intervention. Rather than uphold their duties, the Defendant Specialists, during the Class Period, repeatedly violated their "negative obligation duty" by engaging in "interpositioning." The complaint further alleges that instead of executing customer buy-and-sell orders against other customer orders, the defendants, during the Class Period, intervened and traded using their own firm accounts to the disadvantage of the customers. More specifically, the Defendant Specialists would trade ahead of a potential customer by buying stock from the seller and then selling it to the buyer at a higher price for a profit, rather than allowing the customers to trade between themselves without specialist intervention. Thus, the defendants' improper trading activities caused plaintiff and other members of the Class to purchase and/or sell defendants' clients' shares at distorted prices and to otherwise suffer damages. If you are a member of the class described above and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than December 16, 2003. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.cauleygeller.com/template8.asp?pcode=6&pp=1 . Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through Cauley Geller or other counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Cauley Geller is a national law firm that represents investors and consumers in class action and corporate governance litigation. It is one of the country's premiere firms in the area of securities fraud, with in-house finance and forensic accounting specialists and extensive trial experience. Since its founding, Cauley Geller has recovered in excess of two billion dollars on behalf of aggrieved shareholders. The firm maintains offices in Boca Raton, Little Rock and New York. If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call or e-mail the Firm or visit the Firm's website at http://www.cauleygeller.com/ . Contact: CAULEY GELLER BOWMAN & RUDMAN, LLP Samuel H. Rudman, Esq. or David A. Rosenfeld, Esq. Client Relations Department: Jackie Addison or Heather Gann P.O. Box 25438 Little Rock, AR 72221-5438 Toll Free: 1-888-551-9944 Fax: 1-501-312-8505 E-mail: DATASOURCE: Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, LLP CONTACT: Samuel H. Rudman, Esq. or David A. Rosenfeld, Esq., both of Cauley Geller Bowman & Rudman, LLP, +1-631-367-7100 Web site: http://www.cauleygeller.com/ http://www.cauleygeller.com/show_case.asp?ccode=183&pcode=10&pp=4 http://www.cauleygeller.com/template8.asp?pcode=6&pp=1

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