CNN MONEY AIRS SCHOOL LAWSUIT SEGMENT

More National Publicity for State Case
Extra!! Regulators Probe Stifel Nicolaus Role Extra!!

Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

And The Milwaukee World Hound Dog Team

CNN Money anchor Poppy Harlow (above) writes to say her segment entitled "Wisconsin Schools Hit by Crisis" is airing today, Tuesday January 21st, 2009, on her nationally televised show.

Harlow spent January 2nd, 2009 in Wisconsin, en route to her New York home after a holiday visit with her family in the "Twin Cities" of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota.
While in Milwaukeeworld, she interviewed Houston attorney Robert Kantas, then traveled to the Village of Whitefish Bay to interview Shawn Yde, business manager for the school district there. Harlow and her crew also paid a call to the City of Kenosha where she spoke with school board member Marc Hujak.
The two school officials are the face of the $200 million lawsuit filed against Stifel Nicolaus and Company and the Royal Bank of Canada for their role in selling highly toxic synthetic collateralized debt obligations to five Wisconsin school districts in 2006. The CNN program is the latest installment of a story that has found Kantas, Yde and Hujak on National Public Radio and even the front page of the Sunday New York Times.
Kantas, the attorney, represents the districts whose investments have lost 95 per cent of their value. [For details, go to schoollawsuitfacts.com]

STIFEL SUBJECT OF SEC, STATE INVESTIGATIONS
Involvement with Wisconsin School Districts' Investment Scrutinized by Authorities
Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., in its most recent Form 10-Q filing, dated November, 2008, says the Securities and Exchange Commission and an unnamed "State Regulatory Agency" have made inquiries "requesting information relating to the Company's role in investments made by five Southeastern Wisconsin school districts in transactions involving collateralized debt obligations ('CDOs')."
The filing also notes the school districts' lawsuit for fraud, negligence and violation of Wisconsin securities laws. According to the filing, "the Company believes the Plaintiffs reviewed and understood the relevant offering materials and that the investments were suitable based upon, among other things, its receipt of a written acknowledgement from Plaintiffs."
Stifel is also the subject of heated commentary among members of the Lac du Flambeau Tribe, which essentially mortgaged its reservation to secure a $50 million Stifel-managed bond issue to meet current payments and to finance the construction of a troubled Natchez, Mississippi casino project. I found this out when I noticed the Lake du Flambeau News had linked to the school lawsuit website. [LDF News]

--Michael Horne