Class Action Filed Against American International Group, Inc. by the Law Firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP on Behalf of Purchasers of Scudder Mutual Funds

RADNOR, Pa., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was issued today by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP:

Notice is hereby given that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of all those who purchased Scudder mutual funds from the AIG Advisor Group (Parent company is defendant American International Group, Inc. , hereinafter "AIG" or the "Company") from June 30, 2000 through June 8, 2005, inclusive (the "Class Period").

During the Class Period, the AIG Advisor Group consisted of the following broker-dealers: Royal Alliance, Inc., SunAmerica Securities, Inc., FSC Securities Corp., Sentra Securities Corporation, Spelman & Co., Inc., and Advantage Capital Corp.

The Scudder mutual funds and their respective symbols are as follows: Scudder Aggressive Growth Scudder Blue Chip Scudder Capital Growth Scudder Commodity Securities Scudder Development Scudder Dreman Concentrated Value Scudder Dreman Financial Services Scudder Dreman High Return Eq Scudder Dreman Mid Cap Value Scudder Dreman Small Cap Value Scudder EAFE Equity Index Scudder Emerging Markets Scudder Emerging Markets Income Scudder Equity 500 Index Scudder Fixed Income Scudder Flag Communications Scudder Flag Equity Partners Scudder Flag Value Builder Scudder Global Scudder Global Bond Scudder Global Discovery Scudder GNMA Scudder Gold & Precious Metals Scudder Greater Europe Scudder Growth & Income Scudder Health Care Scudder High Income Scudder High Income Plus Scudder High-Yield Tax-Free Scudder Income Scudder Inflation Protected Plus Scudder Intermediate Tax/Amt Free Scudder International Scudder International Equity Scudder International Scudder International Sel Eq Scudder Japanese Equity Scudder Large Cap Value Scudder Large Company Growth Scudder Latin America Scudder Lifecycle Long Range Scudder Lifecycle Mid Range Scudder Lifecycle Short Range Scudder Limited-Duration Plus Scudder MA Tax-Free Scudder Managed Municipal Bonds Scudder Micro Cap Scudder Mid Cap Growth Scudder Pacific Opportunities Scudder Pathway Conservative Scudder Pathway Growth Scudder Pathway Growth Plus Scudder Pathway Moderate Scudder Retirement VI Scudder Retirement VII Scudder RREEF Real Estate Sec Scudder S&P 500 Index Scudder Select 500 Scudder Short Duration Scudder Short Term Municipal Bond Scudder Short-Term Bond Scudder Short-Term Muni Bd Scudder Small Cap Growth Scudder Small Company Stock Scudder Small Company Value Scudder State Tax-Free Income CA Scudder State Tax-Free Income NY Scudder Strategic Income Scudder Target 2010 Scudder Target 2011 Scudder Target 2012 Scudder Target 2013 Scudder Target 2014 Scudder Tax Adv Dividend Scudder Technology Scudder Total Return Scudder U.S. Government Securities Scudder US Bond Index

On June 8, 2005, the NASD announced that it had fined AIG in connection with the receipt of directed brokerage in exchange for preferential treatment for certain mutual fund companies and certain mutual fund families (the "Shelf-Space Funds").

The Shelf-Space Funds included the following mutual fund families: AIG SunAmerica, AIM, AllianceBernstein, American Funds, American Skandia, Columbia, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Hartford, John Hancock, MFS, NationsFunds, Pacific Life, Pioneer, Putnam, Oppenheimer, Scudder, Van Kampen, and WM Funds Distributor, Inc.

If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests with respect to these matters, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP (Darren J. Check, Esq. or Richard A. Maniskas, Esq.) toll-free at 1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at [e-mail].

The Complaint charges AIG and certain of its affiliated entities with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. More specifically, the Complaint alleges that the defendants, in clear contravention of their disclosure obligations and fiduciary responsibilities, failed to properly disclose that they had been aggressively pushing sales personnel to sell the Shelf-Space Funds that provided financial incentives and rewards to AIG and its personnel based on sales. Instead of offering fair, honest and unbiased recommendations to investors, the AIG Financial Advisors gave pre-determined recommendations, pushing clients into a pre-selected limited number of mutual funds so that the Financial Advisors could reap millions of dollars in kickbacks from the Shelf-Space Funds, with which they had struck secret, highly lucrative deals to profit at shareholders' expense. The defendants' sales practices created a material insurmountable conflict of interest between the defendants and their clients by providing substantial monetary incentives to sell Shelf-Space Funds, sales of which increased the defendants' overall profits, but diminished investors' returns in the process. While Shelf-Space Funds were aggressively sold to investors, the defendants failed to disclose any of these financial incentives for selling such funds. The conflict of interest created by the defendants' failure to disclose the incentives is a clear violation of federal securities laws.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, which prosecutes class actions in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Schiffrin & Barroway 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. For more information about Schiffrin & Barroway, or to sign up to participate in this action online, please visit http://www.sbclasslaw.com/.

If you are a member of the class described above, you may, not later than June 6, 2006, move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff of the class, if you so choose. A lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. In order to be appointed 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. Under certain circumstances, one or more class members may together serve as "lead plaintiff." Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Schiffrin & Barroway, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.

CONTACT: Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP Darren J. Check, Esq. Richard A. Maniskas, Esq. 280 King of Prussia Road Radnor, PA 19087 1-888-299-7706 (toll-free) or 1-610-667-7706 Or by e-mail at [e-mail]