Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP Files Class Action Suit against Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc

Business Wire, Oct 30, 2007

NEW YORK -- Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP ("Coughlin Stoia") (http://www.csgrr.com/cases/merrilllynch/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of a Class consisting of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. ("Merrill" or the "Company") (NYSE:MER) between February 26, 2007 and October 23, 2007 (the "Class Period"), against Merrill and certain of its officers and/or directors for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act").

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 plaintiff's counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Coughlin Stoia at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@csgrr.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.csgrr.com/cases/merrilllynch/. Any member of the purported 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 Merrill and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Exchange Act. Merrill offers a broad range of services to private clients, small businesses, institutions and corporations, organizing its activities into two interrelated business segments - Global Markets & Investment Banking Group and Global Wealth Management, which is comprised of Global Private Client and Global Investment Management.

The complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business and financial results. Merrill had gone heavily into Collateralized Debt Obligations ("CDOs") which generated higher yields in the short term but which would be devastating to the Company as the real estate market continued to soften and the risky loans led to losses. According to the complaint, Defendants knew or recklessly disregarded that: (i) the Company was more exposed to CDOs containing subprime debt than it disclosed; and (ii) the Company's Class Period statements were materially false due to their failure to inform the market of the ticking time bomb in the Company's CDO portfolio due to the deteriorating subprime mortgage market, which caused Merrill's portfolio to be impaired.

In early October 2007, Merrill acknowledged it would have to take a $5 billion third quarter 2007 charge for mortgage and credit problems. Then, on October 24, 2007, before the market opened, Merrill issued a press release which announced the third quarter charge would be $8 billion instead of $5 billion. On this news, Merrill's stock dropped from $67.12 per share to as low as $61.40 per share, closing at $63.22 per share on volume of 52 million shares. Subsequently, on October 25, 2007, S&P reduced Merrill's credit rating to negative after the brokerage reported the biggest quarterly loss in its 93-year history, causing Merrill's stock to dramatically drop to $60.90 per share.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of a Class consisting of all persons other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired the common stock of Merrill between February 26, 2007 and October 23, 2007, seeking to pursue remedies under the Exchange Act. The plaintiff is represented by Coughlin Stoia, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.

Coughlin Stoia, a 190-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Houston and Philadelphia, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. Coughlin Stoia lawyers have been responsible for more than $45 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Coughlin Stoia Web site (http://www.csgrr.com) has more information about the firm.