On December 7, 2006, in a lawsuit brought on behalf of shareholders of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange against the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (“PHLX”) and six Wall Street firms (UBS Securities, LLC; Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.; Citigroup Financial Products, Inc.; Credit Suisse First Boston; Citadel Derivatives Group, LLC; and Merrill Lynch, Pierce Fenner & Smith), Chancellor William Chandler of the Delaware Court of Chancery denied all defendants’ motions to dismiss.  Lawrence Deutsch, Esquire, of Berger & Montague, P.C. argued the motions on behalf of representative plaintiff Chuck Ginsburg and the class of injured Class A shareholders regarding the challenged transactions.  The Class A shareholders owned 100% of the PHLX prior to the sale of a non-dilutable 90% interest to the six Wall Street firms in 2005.   Chancellor Chandler ordered that trial be set by early summer 2007.

Plaintiff’s counsel Lawrence Deutsch notes, “This is an important victory for PHLX’s Class A shareholders as well as for shareholder rights, particularly as to the limits of the power of a board whose actions may have injured its own shareholders.”

Counsel for the PHLX shareholders are Lawrence Deutsch and Robin Switzenbaum of the law firm of Berger & Montague, P.C., which brought the suit on June 6, 2006.  The Berger firm with 60 attorneys has extensive experience representing plaintiffs in class action litigation and has played lead roles in securities, antitrust, and consumer cases over the past 25 years that have resulted in recoveries of several billion dollars to investors and class members. The Berger firm is working on this matter with the Wilmington, Delaware firm of Rosenthal, Monhait & Goddess, P.C. (attorneys Joseph Rosenthal and Jessica Zeldin).

To read the recent Chancellor Chandler's decision or the Complaint, click here.

For further information, please contact Plaintiff’s Counsel:

Lawrence Deutsch , Esquire
Robin Switzenbaum, Esquire
Berger & Montague, P.C.
1622 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
E-Mail: ldeutsch@bm.net
rswitzenbaum@bm.net