Federal District Court Orders Publication of Notice to SunTrust Banks, Inc.'s (NYSE: STI) Shareholders

SAN DIEGO, May 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholder rights law firm Robbins Arroyo LLP reports that Honorable William S. Duffey, Jr. of the Unites States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, presiding over the shareholder derivative action, Mannato v. Wells, et al., No. 1:11-cv-04402-WSD, ordered the publication of the following notice to SunTrust Banks, Inc.'s shareholders on SunTrust Banks, Inc.'s investor relations webpage and in The Wall Street Journal. 

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This Notice is provided pursuant to an order of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (the "Court"). Edward Mannato, the plaintiff in the above-referenced putative shareholder derivative action (the "Action") died while the Action was pending.  No SunTrust shareholder with standing has been substituted to continue the Action.  The derivative claims asserted in the Action are asserted on behalf of SunTrust.  They must be pursued by a current SunTrust shareholder who has owned SunTrust shares continuously from February 28, 2006.  Any recovery in this action is for the benefit of SunTrust.  No SunTrust shareholder will receive any monetary recovery. 

If a SunTrust shareholder does not, by July 31, 2013, seek to be substituted as plaintiff, a judgment of dismissal will be entered binding SunTrust.  SunTrust shareholders, after dismissal, may be prohibited from pursuing the claims because of the running of the statute of limitations. 

BACKGROUND

Former SunTrust shareholder Edward Mannato filed his complaint in the Action on behalf of SunTrust on December 19, 2011.  The Action seeks to assert claims derivatively on behalf of SunTrust against certain current and former SunTrust officers and directors (collectively, the "Individual Defendants") for alleged breaches of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, and unjust enrichment in connection with SunTrust's alleged failure to disclose and properly mitigate risks resulting from SunTrust's exposure to significant losses in mortgage-backed assets held by off-balance sheet SunTrust affiliates and impaired on-balance sheet mortgages, HELOCs, and mortgage-backed securities, from February 28, 2006 through July 22, 2009.  The Action seeks to recover money and equitable restitution, as well as the implementation of corporate governance reforms designed to prevent recurrence of the alleged wrongdoing. 

A Demand Review Committee (the "DRC") of SunTrust's Board of Directors investigated the allegations and claims asserted, and determined that they lack factual and legal merit and that it would not be in SunTrust's best interests to pursue them.  The DRC instructed SunTrust to seek dismissal of the Action.  The Action also challenges the reasonableness of the DRC's investigation and the independence of its members, and alleges that its determination not to pursue the claims was not made in good faith.

The Court has not ruled on the legal sufficiency of the complaint or considered the legal or factual merits of the claims, including the challenge in the Action to the DRC's investigation and the decision the DRC reached.  

A copy of the complaint and other filings in the Action are available in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia's electronic PACER database, https://ecf.gand.uscourts.gov.  They also may be examined during normal business hours at the Office of the Clerk of Court, 2211 Richard B. Russell Federal Building and Courthouse, 75 Spring Street, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30303‑3361.

Any SunTrust shareholders who wish to act as a plaintiff in the Action must, on or before July 31, 2013, file a motion to intervene in the Action.  A shareholder must be represented by counsel to file the motion.  For more information regarding the claims and your eligibility to request to act as plaintiff, please consult with your lawyer or previous plaintiff's counsel: Robbins Arroyo LLP, c/o Darnell R. Donahue, 600 B Street, Suite 1900, San Diego, California 92101; Telephone: (800) 350-6003.

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR SUNTRUST REGARDING THIS NOTICE.

Links to Notice:
www.suntrust.com/AboutUs/InvestorRelations/LatestInformation
www.robbinsarroyo.com/shareholders-rights-blog/suntrust-banks-inc

SOURCE Robbins Arroyo LLP