NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Securities Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes, www.nasd-law.com, announced today that it filed another arbitration claim against Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (NYSE:C) with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's ("FINRA") Office of Dispute Resolution, for losses sustained in Citigroup's ASTA and MAT Funds ("the Funds"). While various class action lawsuits have been filed regarding Citigroup's alternative investments, Klayman & Toskes' clients are opting out of these class actions and filing individual arbitration claims with FINRA.
Investors of the Funds have been given a tender offer by Citigroup in exchange for a release of all legal claims. However, investors of the Funds should cautiously study such offers, and are strongly encouraged to consider all of their legal rights before agreeing to accept any offers from Citigroup. According to Klayman & Toskes' investigation of Citigroup's proposed tender offer, investors will most likely recover a higher percentage of their losses by filing an individual arbitration claim against Citigroup.
Following the launch of the ASTA and MAT Funds, Citigroup solicited several of its high net worth customers, many of whom were retirees, to invest in the Funds. Within its sales pitch, Citigroup represented the Funds to be fixed income products that could provide higher yields, and that the Funds were "safe" and "secure" investments, not subject to a significant amount of volatility. According to one claim filed against Citigroup, "(o)ne type of investment Citigroup promoted to its investors was municipal bond opportunities involving the arbitrage of tax-exempt and taxable bonds. These were actually very risky investments which could drop precipitously if the markets changed, or if the investments were not properly managed." Presentation materials for the Funds were provided to Citigroup's customers along with the distribution of hundreds of millions of dollars of shares. The presentation materials are alleged to be "false and misleading in that the strategy to be employed would not protect investors as suggested by the ratings of the underlying investments." Further, it is believed that Citigroup failed to implement risk management strategies to prevent the Funds' management from investing the Funds' assets in risky and speculative investments.
The attorneys at the Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes are dedicated to aggressively pursuing claims on behalf of investors who have suffered significant losses. Klayman & Toskes, an experienced, qualified and nationally recognized securities litigation law firm, practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration and litigation. It continues its representation of investors throughout the world in securities arbitration and litigation matters against major Wall Street brokerage firms.
If you invested in Citigroup's ASTA or MAT Funds and you wish to discuss your legal options at no obligation, please contact Steven D. Toskes, Esquire or Jahan K. Manasseh, Esquire of Klayman & Toskes, P.A., at 888-997-9956, or visit us on the web at http://www.nasd-law.com.