Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Suit Against First NBC Bank Holding Company

News provided by

May 05, 2016, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, May 5, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP ("Robbins Geller") (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/firstnbc/) today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of purchasers of First NBC Bank Holding Company ("First NBC") (NASDAQ:FNBC) common stock during the period between May 10, 2013 and April 8, 2016 (the "Class Period").

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Samuel H. Rudman or David A. Rosenfeld of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at [email protected]. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/firstnbc/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges First NBC and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. First NBC is a bank holding company. The Company offers a range of financial services through its wholly owned banking subsidiary, First NBC Bank.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse facts regarding First NBC's business and financial results, including that First NBC had improperly accounted for certain of its tax credit entities, that the carrying value of its investments in tax credits on its books was overstated and these investments should have been marked as impaired and charges taken against them on a more timely basis, and that First NBC had a larger exposure to the oil and gas industry than it had disclosed during the Class Period and had failed to take adequate reserves against this growing exposure. As a result of these false and misleading statements and omissions, First NBC stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, reaching a high of $42.47 per share.

Then, starting in early 2016, First NBC began to disclose errors its accounting dating back to 2011. On February 1, 2016, First NBC announced that its earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2015 had significantly underperformed analysts' expectations, based, in large part, on the Company having taken an $8.2 million tax credit impairment. The price of First NBC stock fell $3.20 per share on this news to close at $27.20 per share. On March 16, 2016, First NBC announced it had discovered errors in its accounting for its Federal and State Historic Rehabilitation tax credit entities that could potentially require the Company to restate its previously reported fiscal year 2015 financial results. As a result of this news, the price of First NBC stock dropped 22%, or $5.33 per share, to close at $19.09 per share on March 16, 2016.

Then on April 8, 2016, First NBC announced that it would be forced to restate its consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011, including each of the interim periods within fiscal years 2015, 2014 and 2013 – the Company's entire reporting history as a publicly traded company – and that the Company's financial statements for fiscal years 2011 through 2015 could no longer be relied upon. First NBC blamed "an error in the Company's methodology for the recognition of impairment of its investment in tax credit entities" and disclosed that "the Company had not properly consolidated variable interest entities related to Low-Income Housing Tax Credit entities." On this news, the price of First NBC stock declined another 2%, or $0.47 per share, to close at $18.65 per share the next trading day.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of First NBC common stock during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud.

Robbins Geller, with 200 lawyers in ten offices, represents U.S. and international institutional investors in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. The firm has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history and was ranked first in both the amount and number of shareholder class action recoveries in ISS's SCAS Top 50 report for 2014. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/firstnbc/ for more information.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/rgrdlaw
https://twitter.com/rgrdlaw
https://www.facebook.com/rgrdlaw
https://plus.google.com/+Rgrdlaw/posts

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150415/198876LOGO

SOURCE Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP