SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Expanded Class Period In Shareholder Class Action Filed Against AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. - AFSI

RADNOR, Pa., April 13, 2017 -- Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP reminds AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:AFSI) (“AmTrust” or the “Company”) shareholders that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of purchasers of AmTrust’s securities between March 2, 2015 and March 16, 2017, inclusive (the “Class Period”). 

DEADLINE REMINDER: AmTrust shareholders may, no later than May 1, 2017, petition the Court to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class.  For additional information or to learn how to participate in this action please visit https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/amtrust-financial-services-inc#join.

Shareholders who wish to discuss their legal rights or interests with respect to this action are encouraged to contact Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check (Darren J. Check, Esq., D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq. or Adrienne O. Bell, Esq.) at (888) 299 – 7706 or (610) 667 – 7706, or via e-mail at [email protected].

AmTrust, through its subsidiaries, underwrites and provides property and casualty insurance in the United States and internationally.    

The shareholder class action complaint alleges that AmTrust and certain of its executive officers made a series of materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects to investors during the Class Period, including the following: (1) that the Company had ineffective assessment of the risks associated with financial reporting; (2) that the Company had an insufficient complement of corporate accounting and corporate financial reporting resources within the organization; and (3) that the Company lacked effective controls over financial reporting.  The complaint further alleges that, as a result of the foregoing, the defendants’ statements about AmTrust’s business, operations, and prospects were false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.

On February 27, 2017, AmTrust disclosed that it had identified a “material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting” and that it would require additional time to file its Fiscal 2016 financial statements with the SEC.  The Company further disclosed that the material weakness in its internal control over financial reporting “specifically related to ineffective assessment of the risks associated with the financial reporting, and an insufficient complement of corporate accounting and corporate financial reporting resources within the organization.”

Following this news, shares of AmTrust’s stock fell $5.32 per share, or over 19%, to close February 27, 2017 at $22.34 per share.

Then, on March 16, 2017, the Company disclosed that “the Audit Committee of the AmTrust Board of Directors, in consultation with management and its current and former independent auditors, concluded that the Company’s previously issued consolidated financial statements for 2014 and 2015 (including for each of the four quarters of 2015) as well as for the first three quarters of 2016 should be restated and should no longer be relied upon.”  Additionally, AmTrust reported that “the reports of BDO USA LLP, the Company’s former independent auditor, on the Company’s consolidated financial statements for 2014 and 2015, including its opinions on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting for such periods, likewise should no longer be relied upon.” 

Following this update, shares of AmTrust’s stock declined an additional $4.03 per share, or over 18%, to close on March 17, 2017 at $17.58 per share.

AmTrust shareholders may, no later than May 1, 2017, petition the Court to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.  A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation.  In order to be appointed as a lead plaintiff, the Court must determine that the class member’s claim is typical of the claims of other class members, and that the class member will adequately represent the class in the action.  Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.  For additional information, or to learn how to participate in this action, please visit https://www.ktmc.com/new-cases/amtrust-financial-services-inc#join.

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country.  Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check is a driving force behind corporate governance reform, and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of institutional and individual investors from the United States and around the world.  The firm represents investors, consumers and whistleblowers (private citizens who report fraudulent practices against the government and share in the recovery of government dollars).  The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check.  For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, please visit www.ktmc.com.

CONTACT:

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP
Darren J. Check, Esq.
D. Seamus Kaskela, Esq.
Adrienne O. Bell, Esq.
280 King of Prussia Road
Radnor, PA 19087
(888) 299-7706
(610) 667-7706
[email protected]