An investor has filed a proposed U.S. shareholder securities class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased the securities of Manulife Financial Corporation between March 28, 2008 and June 22, 2009 over possible claims for the violation of the federal securities laws by Manulife Financial.

According to the complaint the plaintiff alleges that Manulife Financial and certain of Manulife’s executive officers violated the federal securities laws by making “false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material adverse information concerning the true risk to the company" of its guaranteed investment products. Besides Manulife Financial Corp. named as defendants in the suit, are Dominic D'Alessandro, the former chief executive, and Peter Rubenovitch, the former chief financial officer. On June 19, 2009, after the market closed, Manulife Financial announced that it received an enforcement notice from the Ontario Securities Commission relating to Manulife’s disclosure of risks concerning its variable annuity guarantee and segregated funds business.

The Ontario Securities Commission notice indicated that the preliminary conclusion of Ontario Securities Commission staff was that Manulife Financial failed to meet its continuous disclosure obligations related to its exposure to market price risk in its segregated funds and variable annuity guaranteed products. The plaintiff alleges that “contrary to the Company's own risk management strategy, Manulife applied no material hedging strategy to manage risk particularly during an economic downturn”.

The complaint further alleges that “notwithstanding its risk management strategy Manulife built up a massive stock portfolio, which it chose to leave unhedged” and that the defendants "were aware or deliberately disregarded that the false and misleading statements were being issued regarding the company, and approved or ratified these statements in violation of the [U.S.] federal securities laws." This resulted in a huge decline in the funds available to guaranty the Separate Fund Contract obligations, forcing the Company to raise billions in capital to make up for a widening shortfall in the amount it had promised to pay customers decades from now, so the lawsuit. Stunned investors responded to the Ontario Securities Commission's announcement when trading markets reopened on June 22, 2009, so the lawsuit. Manulife Financial’s shares dropped 12% to close at $17.67 on an unusually high trading volume of almost 8 million shares.

Spokesman for Manulife David Patterson did not comment on the specific allegations in the lawsuit, but reportedly said that "Manulife re-iterates its clear and confident position that we have satisfied all relevant disclosure requirements" and that Manulife stands solidly behind its policy holders and holders and wealth products, and will defend its "reputation for integrity, reliability and trustworthiness."

Manulife Financial Corporation, located in Toronto, Canada, is a life insurance company and the holding company of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company. Manulife Financial Corp is a global provider of financial protection and wealth management products and services, including individual life insurance, group life and health insurance, long-term care insurance, pension products, annuities and mutual funds. Manulife Financial reported Total Revenue of $35.581billion with a Net Change in Cash of $1.538billion in 2007 and Total Revenue of $33.003billion with Net Change in Cash of $4.924billion in 2008. Shares of Manulife Financial (NYSE:MFC) closed on June 19, 2009 before the announcement at $20.57 per share and dropped to under $17 per share the following day. Shares of Manulife Financial reached a 52weekHigh of $38.44 per share and $46.00 per share in 2007.