PGGM, AP4 and three US funds named leads in BofA suit

The three US pension funds are the State Teachers' Retirement System of Ohio, the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the Teachers' Retirement System of Texas.

The two European funds are Dutch fund PGGM and Swedish scheme AP4.

US federal district court Judge Denny Chin said the "public pension funds have the largest financial interest" in the case.

Nearly a dozen schemes applied to be lead plaintiffs - including the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California State teachers' Retirement System.

Nearly all had identical complaints against Bank of America - namely that the bank withheld information about the financial health of Merrill Lynch prior to its acquisition. (Global Pensions; March 26, 2009)

The lead plaintiffs are represented by Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann; Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer; and Barroway Topaz Kessler Meltzer & Check.