Business & Finance
Thu, August 23, 2012 
SAN DIEGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--[ Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP ] (aRobbins Gellera) ([ http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/prudential/ ]) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on behalf of purchasers of Prudential Financial, Inc. (aPrudentiala) (NYSE:PRU) common stock during the period between May 5, 2010 and November 2, 2011 (the aClass Perioda).
If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiffas counsel, [ Darren Robbins ] of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at [ djr@rgrdlaw.com ]. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at [ http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/prudential/ ]. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.
The complaint charges Prudential and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Prudential is a financial services company that offers a wide array of financial products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds, investment management, and real estate services.
The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants caused the Company to issue materially false and misleading statements concerning the Companyas current and future financial condition, including its reserves and its potential liability to policyholders, their beneficiaries or relevant state authorities for millions of dollars in benefits that should have been paid out to policyholders or escheated to the states, and the extent of the Companyas exposure to claims of state and federal law violations.
On August 5, 2011, the Company filed a Form 10-Q with the SEC for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. The Form 10-Q discussed that the Company was currently being investigated by a third party auditor on behalf of 33 jurisdictions concerning state unclaimed property laws and disclosed for the first time that it had been subpoenaed by the New York Attorney General regarding its unclaimed property procedures. Then on November 2, 2011, the Company reported its third quarter fiscal 2011 financial results, including third quarter 2011 earnings results that missed Wall Street analyst consensus expectations, and that it had taken a $99 million charge to increase reserves related to its death benefits practices. On this news, the Companyas share price declined from a close of $53.67 per share on November 2, 2011 to $53.05 per share on November 3, 2011 and to $52.19 per share on November 4, 2011.
According to the complaint, defendantsa financial reports and related disclosures during the Class Period were each materially false and misleading in that defendants knew or recklessly disregarded that the Company had not properly or adequately reserved for the payment of benefits to policyholdersa beneficiaries when it knew or had reason to know the policyholders were deceased causing the Companyas financial results and guidance for its operating earnings or income during the Class Period to be false.
Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Prudential common stock during the Class Period (the aClassa). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.
Robbins Geller represents U.S. and international institutional investors in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. With nearly 200 lawyers in nine offices, the firm represents hundreds of public and multi-employer pension funds with combined assets under management in excess of $2 trillion. The firm has obtained many of the largest recoveries in history and has been ranked number one in the number of shareholder class action recoveries in MSCIas Top SCAS 50 every year since 2003. According to Cornerstone Research, the firmas recoveries have averaged 35% above the median for all firms over the past seven years (2005-2011). Please visit [ http://www.rgrdlaw.com ] for more information.
