U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet said in a decision that the two plaintiffs would best represent investors in the case.
As co-lead plaintiffs, CalPERS and Empire will take on the primary role of managing the case and monitoring developments for other plaintiffs.
“We appreciate the opportunity to serve as one of the lead plaintiffs in this action against the NYSE and its specialist firms,” said Peter Mixon, CalPERS General Counsel.
CalPERS filed the lawsuit in December, alleging that the Exchange purposefully allowed, and specialist firms participated in, the trade manipulations, enhancing profits to both, while shortchanging investors.
The lawsuit revolves around the specialist firms’ failure to fill outstanding buy and sell orders at the best prices, intervening when it met the Exchange’s and specialist firms’ own benefit (SEC and Exchange rules require that specialist firms intervene in only limited circumstances). The complaint alleges the specialist firms violated federal law by stepping into complete trades routinely, even when orders could have been executed without their intervention.
CalPERS has a large financial interest in the outcome of the case. Most of the companies within its $67 billion U.S. stock portfolio are traded on the NYSE.
CalPERS is represented in the lawsuit by Lerach, Coughlin, Stoia & Robbins LLP.
A copy of the lawsuit is available in CalPERS Press Room at www.calpers.ca.gov. CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund, with assets of more than $160 billion. CalPERS provides retirement benefits to 1.4 million public employees and their families.
