Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Against Smith Barney

We are pleased to announce that on August 13, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton granted final approval to a settlement of the gender discrimination case against Smith Barney, Amochaev, et al. v. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. d/b/a Smith Barney, Case No. C- 05-1298 PJH. The Court found the settlement to be fair, adequate and reasonable, and acknowledged the substantial injunctive relief that is required by the settlement agreement. To read a copy of the Court's order, click here.

Plaintiffs alleged that Smith Barney discriminated against female Financial Advisors in compensation and business opportunities. The Court has approved a four-year settlement agreement that provides for comprehensive injunctive relief and significant monetary relief for the following Settlement Class:

• All women employed as Financial Advisors in (i) the United States branches of Smith Barney’s retail brokerage division at any time from August 30, 2003 through March 1, 2008 or (ii) the California branches of Smith Barney’s retail brokerage division at any time from June 25, 2003 through March 1, 2008.

The settlement includes comprehensive injunctive relief regarding account distributions, partnership arrangements, branch manager promotions, retention, diversity training, and complaint processing, among other things. The settlement also provides that an independent Diversity Monitor and an independent Industrial Psychologist will be appointed to effectuate the terms of the Agreement.

In addition, the settlement establishes a significant class monetary settlement fund of $33 million plus interest now earning on the fund. We believe this is an excellent resolution of the case for Plaintiffs.

Notice of the Settlement setting forth your rights and options under the settlement was mailed to Class Members on May 20, 2008. To read a copy of the Notice, click here. To read a copy of the Claim Form, click here. As of August 12, 2008, Notices had been mailed to 2,411 class members and 1,345 class members had submitted Claim Forms even though the Claim Form deadline is not until September 17, 2008.

Once the September 17th deadline passes, the Claims Administrator will begin processing the Claim Forms and allocating individual class members' settlement payments in accordance with the Plan of Allocation approved by the Court. We anticipate that this process will take several months.

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
(800) 541-7358 (toll-free)
Heather Wong
(615) 313-9000
Beth Alexander

Mehri & Skalet, PLLC
(202) 822-5100
Anna Pohl
Lisa Bornstein

Outten & Golden LLP
(212) 245-1000
Piper Hoffman
1-877-468-8836 (Toll Free)

Please feel free to contact any of us at the above telephone numbers.