|
BASIC INFORMATION
<br />1. Why did'I:get this notice?
<br />This class action, In re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation, is about the sale of municipal derivative transactions
<br />(described below) in the United States and its territories from January 1, 1992, to August 18, 2011. You have been identified
<br />as an entity that may have purchased one or more municipal derivative transactions that were sold during that time frame. If
<br />you purchased a municipal derivative transaction from one or more of the Defendants or Alleged Co -Conspirators (Alleged
<br />Co -Conspirators are identified in Question 4 below) or that was brokered by one or more of the Defendants or Alleged
<br />Co -Conspirators, then you may be a member of the class conditionally certified by the Court for the purposes of these
<br />Settlements (the "Class").
<br />If you are eligible for benefits from these Settlements, you have a right to know about'it and about all of your options before
<br />the Court decides whether to approve the Settlements. This notice describes the lawsuit, the Settlements, your legal rights,
<br />what benefits are available, who is eligible for those benefits, and how to get them. In particular, you may be eligible to receive
<br />a cash payment.
<br />2. What is:a class actior.�
<br />A class action is a lawsuit brought by one or more representative parties, called "Plaintiffs" or "Class Representatives," on
<br />behalf of themselves and other similarly situated entities or persons. (The Plaintiffs here are defined in Question 3, below.)
<br />The members of this group are known collectively as a class. The parties being sued are called the defendants. The court
<br />appoints attorneys, called "Class Counsel," to represent the Plaintiffs and other members of the class. (Class Counsel are
<br />defined in Question 20, below) Together, the Class Representatives, Class Counsel, and the Court share the responsibility
<br />to ensure that the interests of all class members are adequately represented. The Court resolves the claims of all class
<br />members except those who exclude themselves from the class. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court
<br />for the Southern District of New York is in charge of supervising this class action.
<br />When the Plaintiffs enter into a proposed settlement with a defendant, such as those with UBS AG, Societe Generale S.A.,
<br />Natixis Funding Corp., Piper Jaffray & Co., National Westminster Bank Plc, and George K. Baum & Co., in this case, the
<br />Court must approve the settlement before it becomes final. Before the Court decides whether to grant approval, the class
<br />members are 'first given notice of the settlement and an opportunity to be heard about whether they want the settlement to
<br />become final 11he Court then conducts a hearing, called a fairness hearing, to consider whether the proposed settlement is
<br />fair, reasonable and adequate to the class.
<br />Members of the class are not individually responsible to pay attorneys' fees or litigation expenses of Class Counsel. Instead,
<br />attorneys' fees and litigation expenses are paid from a settlement (or a judgment if there has been a trial), and only after being
<br />approved by the Court.
<br />�3 Who:are'the Class:
<br />piSesent�tl�s�in:this•la,�s_ui�;; �...,,:, ,
<br />The Plaintiffs; or Class Representatives, in this class action are the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and the Central
<br />Bucks School District. They allege that they purchased one or more municipal derivative transactions from January1,1992,
<br />to August 18, 2011, from or through one or more of the Defendants.
<br />The Defendants and Alleged Co -Conspirators in this class action fall into two groups: (1) "Alleged Provider Defendants"
<br />and "Alleged Provider Co -Conspirators," which are financial institutions that sold the municipal derivative transactions to
<br />members of the Class, and (2) "Alleged Broker Defendants" and "Alleged Broker Co -Conspirators," which are companies
<br />that brokeredlthe sales of municipal derivative transactions to members of the Class.
<br />For purposes of determining who is a member of the Class, Defendants and Alleged Co -Conspirators include those named
<br />or that could have been named in In re Municipal Derivatives Antitrust Litigation, MDL No. 1950, Master Docket No. 08-
<br />02516 (VM) (GWG), which is currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and all
<br />of the actions filed in or transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for coordination or
<br />consolidation 'with MDL No. 1950 (a complete list is available at www.Municii2alDerivativesSettlement.com). In addition
<br />to UBS AG, Societe Generale S.A., Natixis Funding Corp., Piper Jaffray & Co., National Westminster Bank Plc, and
<br />George K. Baum & Co., the following entities are Defendants or Alleged Co -Conspirators in the lawsuit:
<br />67
<br />-3-
<br />
|