Securities and Investments A. G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. ABN Amro, Inc. Banc of America Securities LLC Barclays Capital, Inc. BNP Paribas Securities Corp. BNY Capital Markets, Inc. Henry G. Cisneros Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. Countrywide Capital V Countrywide Financial Corporation Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. Countrywide Trust V Jeffrey M. Cunningham Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. Robert J. Donato Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Sec. Carlos M. Garcia Andrew Gissenger Goldman Sachs & Co. Greenwich Capital Markets, Inc. HSBC Securities (USA), Inc. JP Morgan Securities, Inc. Stanford L. Kurland Lehman Brothers, Inc. Martin R. Melone Merrill Lynch & Co. Morgan Stanley & Co. Angelo R. Mozilo Robert T. Parry RBC Capital Markets Corp. Oscar P. Robertson Keith P. Russell David Sambol Eric P. Sieracki Harley W. Snyder Action Date: January 25, 2008 Location: Los Angeles, CA On January 25, 2008, a consolidated class action lawsuit filed against Countrywide Financial Corporation by the New York City Comptroller, William Thompson, and the New York State Comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli and the New York City Pension Funds was expanded to include 26 financial services companies that underwrote Countrywide's stock and bond offerings. The expanded suit also named two global accounting firms, Grant Thornton, LLP and KPMG, LLP, and additional Countrywide officers and directors who signed Securities and Exchange Commission filings that allegedly contained false and misleading information about Countrywide's business and finances. The class-action suit alleges that Countrywide, located in Calabasas, California, misstated and omitted information regarding its lending practices and other business information, resulting in the artificial inflation of its stock price. The suit also claims the company issued stock and bonds based on SEC filings that contained false information. The expanded suit includes ABN Amro Inc., A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., Banc of America Securities LLC, Barclays Capital Inc., BNP Paribas Securities Corp., BNY Capital Markets Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities Inc., Goldman Sachs & Co., Greenwich Capital Markets Inc., HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Lehman Brothers Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co., RBC Capital Markets Corp., RBC Dominion Securities Inc., RBC Dain Rauscher Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., SG Americas Securities, TD Securities Inc., UBS Securities LLC., Wachovia Capital Markets LLC, Wachovia Securities Inc., Grant Thornton LLP and KPMG LLP. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Central District of California and was assigned to U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer who appointed the New York State Common Retirement Fund, the second-largest U.S. pension fund, as co-lead plaintiff on November 28, 2007, and consolidated five related suits. In appointing Comptroller DiNapoli and the New York City Pension Funds as co-lead plaintiffs, the Court found that together, the State and City pension funds had suffered the largest loses of any investors who applied for lead plaintiff status in the Countrywide case: combined losses as much as $100 million. The Court also found that the State and City pension funds had “considerable experience” in large securities cases, and had served as lead plaintiffs in prior cases “with considerable success.” The Court also accepted the statement of the team of New York State and City pension funds that it “intends to vigorously protect the interests of all plaintiffs.” The first case was filed by George Pappas, Master Case No. CV 07-5295 MRP. The individuals named as defendants include Angelo R. Mozilo, David Sambol, Eric P. Sieracki, Robert J. Donato, Harley W. Snyder, Jeffrey M. Cunningham, Martin R. Melone, Robert T. Parry, Oscar P. Robertson, Keith P. Russell, Stanford L. Kurland, Andrew Gissenger, Carlos M. Garcia, and Henry G. Cisneros. Angelo R. Mozilo,the CEO of Countrywide Financial, and other Countrywide executives allegedly used $2 billion of the company's cash to repurchase stock which allowed executives to sell shares of Countrywide worth $842 million at artificially high prices from April, 2004 to October, 2007, at the expense of ordinary shareholders. Insider share sales at Countrywide reached a five-year peak in March, 2007, four months before the company posted a 33 percent drop in second-quarter earnings and cut its full-year earnings forecast. On October 26, 2007, Countrywide posted a $1.2 billion third-quarter loss.