Case 1:15-md-02631-CM-SDA Document 132-1 Filed 09/12/19 Page 1 of 218
`Case 1:15-md-02631-CM-SDA Document 132-1 Filed 09/12/19 Page 1 of 218
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`EXHIBIT 1
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`EXHIBIT 1
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`Case 1:15-md-02631-CM-SDA Document 132-1 Filed 09/12/19 Page 2 of 218
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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`CHRISTINE ASIA CO., LTD., et al.,
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`JACK YUN MA, et al.,
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`Plaintiffs,
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`v.
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`Defendants.
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`No.: 1:15-md-02631-CM (SDA)
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`Related cases:
`1:15-cv-00759-CM
`1:15-cv-00811-CM
`1:15-cv-00991-CM
`1:15-cv-01405-CM
`1:15-cv-05020-CM
`1:15-cv-04991-CM
`1:15-cv-05002-CM
`
`DECLARATION OF PAUL MULHOLLAND, CPA
`CONCERNING (A) THE MAILING OF THE NOTICE OF (I) PENDENCY OF CLASS
`ACTION AND PROPOSED SETTLEMENT; (II) SETTLEMENT HEARING; AND (III)
`MOTION FOR AN AWARD OF ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND REIMBURSEMENT OF
`LITIGATION EXPENSES AND PROOF OF CLAIM AND RELEASE FORM; (B)
`PUBLICATION OF THE SUMMARY NOTICE; AND (C) REPORT ON REQUESTS
`FOR EXCLUSION AND OBJECTIONS
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`488476.1
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`Case 1:15-md-02631-CM-SDA Document 132-1 Filed 09/12/19 Page 3 of 218
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`I, Paul Mulholland, declare as follows:
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`1.
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`I am the President of Strategic Claims Services (“SCS”), a nationally recognized
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`class action administration firm. I have over twenty-eight years of experience specializing in the
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`administration of class action cases. SCS was established in April 1999 and has administered
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`over four-hundred (400) class action cases since its inception. I am over 21 years of age and am
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`not a party to this action. I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth herein, and if called on
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`to testify I could and would do so to the best of my ability.
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`MAILING OF NOTICE AND CLAIM FORM
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`2.
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`Pursuant to the Court’s Order Preliminarily Approving Settlement and Providing
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`for Notice, dated May 1, 2019 (the “Preliminary Approval Order”), SCS was retained as the
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`Claims Administrator in connection with the Settlement1 in the above-captioned action.
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`3.
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`The services SCS provided and will continue to provide include: (a) organizing
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`the printing and mailing the Notice of (I) Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement;
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`(II) Settlement Hearing; and (III) Motion for an Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Reimbursement
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`of Litigation Expenses (“Notice”) and Proof of Claim and Release Form (“Claim Form”)
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`(together, the “Notice Packet”); (b) establishing and maintaining the dedicated settlement
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`website:AlibabaSettlement.com; (c) creating an online claim filing system; (d) supplying the
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`Notice Packets to Class Members; (e) publishing the Summary Notice as instructed in the
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`Preliminary Approval Order; (f) notifying brokerage firms and other nominee accounts of the
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`appropriate manner to provide individual notice to potential Class Members, both individually
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`and on a published basis; (g) tracking requests for exclusion; (h) tracking returned Notice
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`Packets; (i) forwarding a new Notice Packet if a new address was provided by the U.S.P.S.; (j)
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`1 All capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein have the meanings set forth in the Stipulation
`and Agreement of Settlement, dated as of April 26, 2019 (the “Stipulation”).
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`skip tracing returned undeliverable Notice Packets and re-mailing a new Notice Packet if a new
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`address was obtained (k) accepting and processing Claim Forms submitted by potential Class
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`Members; (l) reviewing and analyzing submitted Claim Forms for accuracy and completeness,
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`including to ensure that they are supported by sufficient documentary evidence; (m) providing
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`notice to potential claimants whose claims are deficient or deemed rejected, when appropriate;
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`(n) creating the calculation program and calculating recognized losses of the Class, on both an
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`individual and a Class-wide basis; (o) mailing checks to Class Members who filed valid claims;
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`and (p) all other services necessary to administer this securities litigation class action Settlement.
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`4.
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`To provide actual notice to those persons and entities who purchased or otherwise
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`acquired Alibaba Group Holding Limited (“Alibaba”) American Depositary Shares (“ADS”), or
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`purchased call options or sold put options on Alibaba ADS, during the period from September
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`19, 2014 through January 28, 2015, inclusive (the “Class Period”), pursuant to the Preliminary
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`Approval Order, SCS printed and mailed the Notice Packet to potential Class Members. A true
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`and correct copy of the Notice Packet (i.e., the Notice and Claim Form) is attached as Exhibit A.
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`5.
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`As in most class actions of this nature, the large majority of potential Class
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`Members are expected to be beneficial purchasers whose securities are held in “street name” —
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`i.e., the securities are purchased by brokerage firms, banks, institutions and other third-party
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`nominees in the name of the nominee, on behalf of the beneficial purchasers. The names and
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`addresses of these beneficial purchasers are known only to the nominees. SCS maintains a
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`proprietary master list consisting of 734 banks and brokerage companies (“Nominee Account
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`Holders”), as well as 601 mutual funds, insurance companies, pension funds, and money
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`managers (“Institutional Groups”). On April 30, 2019, SCS emailed approximately 114 of the
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`largest Nominee Account Holders and Institutional Groups the proposed Preliminary Approval
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`Order to notify them of the pending Settlement. After the Preliminary Approval Order was
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`entered on May 1, 2019, SCS caused a letter to be mailed to the 1,335 Nominee Account Holders
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`and Institutional Groups contained in the SCS master mailing list. A copy of the letter sent to
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`these nominees is attached as Exhibit B. The letter specifically notified them of the Settlement
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`and requested that they, within 7 calendar days from the date of the letter, either send the Notice
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`Packet to their customers who may be beneficial purchasers/owners of Alibaba Securities during
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`the Class Period, or provide SCS with a list of the names, last known addresses and email
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`addresses of such beneficial purchasers/owners so that SCS could promptly mail the Notice
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`Packet directly to them. SCS then followed up with the large nominees consistently and, in some
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`cases, up to 5 attempts were made to have them respond.
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`6.
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`In addition, beginning on May 2, 2019, SCS mailed, by first class mail, postage
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`prepaid, the Notice Packet to 72 individuals and organizations identified in the Registered ADS
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`holder list provided by Alibaba’s transfer agent, Citigroup Inc. These records reflected the
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`persons and entities that held Alibaba ADS’s for their own account, or for the account(s) of their
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`clients, during the Class Period. The direct mailing of Notice Packets to the 72 individuals or
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`entities identified on the transfer agent’s record was completed on May 7, 2019.
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`7.
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`Citigroup Inc. also provided SCS with a list of Depository Trust Company
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`(“DTC”) participants and the weekly share balances of their holdings in Alibaba Securities
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`during the Class Period.2 SCS combined the weekly reports and determined an average share
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`balance of Alibaba Securities for all entities listed on the DTC participants list. SCS mailed and
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`2 Depository Trust Company is a New York corporation known as a trust company which
`performs the functions of a central securities depository and is a registered clearing agency with
`the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. DTC retains custody of more than 1.3 million
`active securities, thereby “bringing efficiency to the securities industry[.]”
`http://www.dtcc.com/about/businesses-and-subsidiaries/dtc.
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`emailed the nominee letter (see Exhibit B) to those DTC participants on May 3, 2019. For any
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`participants that did not respond, SCS sent a reminder letter on May 24, 2019, asking the
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`participants once again to provide us names and addresses of beneficial owners in order to mail
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`the Notice Packet to them, or confirm that a mailing was completed by the nominee.
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`8.
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`On June 3, 2019, SCS sent a letter of non-compliance, certified return receipt
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`requested, to 52 of the largest DTC participants who had not yet responded. See Exhibit C.
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`Another letter was mailed once again to 13 DTC participants who had still not responded as of
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`August 15, 2019. See Exhibit D.
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`9.
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`SCS asked nominees to provide a count of the number of potential Class
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`Members reflected within the nominees’ records. For any nominees that responded and provided
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`a count of the number of potential Class Members reflected in their records to SCS, SCS
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`compared that count to the average reported balance associated with that nominee to ensure that
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`the average per Class Member holdings appeared to be reasonable. This “cross-check” was
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`conducted to confirm that the nominees were, in fact, appropriately identifying all potential Class
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`Members from within the nominees’ own records. As an example: JPMorgan Chase initially
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`provided our office with only 16 names/addresses of potential Class Members. However,
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`JPMorgan Chase’s total average number of Alibaba Securities held during the Class Period, as
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`stated in the DTC reports, was approximately 48,191,912 shares. This would mean that, on
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`average, each of the potential 16 Class Members initially identified by JPMorgan Chase held
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`over 3 million shares of Alibaba Securities during the Class Period—a highly unlikely amount.
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`SCS thus contacted JPMorgan Chase to request that the company again research its records to
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`confirm this was, in fact, the correct number of potential Class Members. JPMorgan Chase
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`responded with an additional 10,437 names. SCS communicated with Lead Counsel consistently
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`throughout the Notice administration period to apprise counsel of the status of our efforts and the
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`nominees’ responses, in order to ensure timely and the best provision of notice possible to
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`potential Class Members.
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`10.
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`Following the mailings of nominee non-compliance letters in June and August
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`2019, SCS received additional names and addresses of potential Class Members from individuals
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`or nominees requesting that a Notice Packets be mailed by SCS, and SCS also received requests
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`from nominees for printed Notice Packets so that the nominees could them forward them to their
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`customers.
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`11.
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`To date, SCS has disseminated 829,8783 Notice Packets either directly to
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`potential Class Members or to their nominees. In addition, SCS was notified by one of the
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`nominees, Broadridge, that it would e-mail web links to the Notice and Claim Form to an
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`additional 256,313 customers who are potential Class Members. Thus, in total, approximately
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`1,086,191 Notice Packets have been sent via mail or e-mail to potential Class Members.
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`12.
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`On May 6, 2019, SCS also e-mailed DTC an electronic copy of the Notice Packet
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`for DTC to publish on its Legal Notice System (“LENS”). LENS provides DTC participants the
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`ability to search and download legal notices as well as receive e-mail alerts based on particular
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`notices or particular CUSIPs once a legal notice is posted.
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`13.
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`Out of the 829,878 Notice Packets physically mailed, 22,072 were returned as
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`undeliverable. Of these, the United States Postal Service provided forwarding addresses for
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`2,070, and SCS immediately mailed another Notice Packet to the updated addresses. The
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`remaining 20,002 Notice and Claim Forms returned as undeliverable were “skip-traced” to
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`obtain updated addresses through Experian and Lexis Nexis and 14,168 were re-mailed to
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`updated addresses.
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`3 Of these, 1,721 Class Members received their Notice Packets via both email and regular mail.
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`14.
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`In addition, SCS was notified by Broadridge that of the 256,313 e-mails
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`containing links to the Notice and Claim Form that Broadridge sent to its customers, 3,901 e-
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`mails bounced back. SCS requested that Broadridge notify its customers via U.S. mail for the e-
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`mails that did not go through. Broadridge has confirmed that they mailed a letter notifying each
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`of these customers.
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`PUBLICATION OF THE SUMMARY NOTICE
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`15.
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`Pursuant to the Court’s Preliminary Approval Order, the Summary Notice of (I)
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`Pendency of Class Action and Proposed Settlement; (II) Settlement Hearing; and (III) Motion for
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`an Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Reimbursement of Litigation Expenses (“Summary Notice”)
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`was published once in each of Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, The New York Times, and
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`The Wall Street Journal, and transmitted once over the PR Newswire on June 3, 2019, as shown
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`in the affidavit of publication attached hereto as Exhibit E.
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`TOLL-FREE PHONE LINE
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`16.
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`On or about May 3, 2019, a case-specific toll-free phone number, 833-226-6360,
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`was established with an Interactive Voice Response system and operators during business hours.
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`The automated attendant answers the calls and presents callers with a series of common
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`questions and answers. If callers need further assistance, they have the option to be transferred
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`to an operator during business hours. To date, SCS has received over 3,500 calls.
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`WEBSITE
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`17.
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`On or about May 9, 2019, SCS established the website, AlibabaSettlement.com,
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`for this case. The website includes a home page with a summary of the case and potential Class
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`Members’ options to participate in the Settlement by submitting a Claim Form, to request
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`exclusion, to object, or to do nothing. It also includes an Important Documents page that
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`contains the Notice; the Claim Form; the Court’s Preliminary Approval Order; the Plaintiffs’
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`Notice of Unopposed Motion and Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement
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`and Approval of Dissemination of Notice to the Class, the Memorandum of Law in Support of
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`Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement and Approval of
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`Dissemination of Notice to the Class; the Declaration of Laurence M. Rosen in Support of
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`Plaintiffs’ Unopposed Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement and Approval of
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`Dissemination of Notice to the Class; and the Stipulation. Separately, there is a page containing
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`the Option Tables that accompany the Plan of Allocation. There is also a page that enables
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`potential Class Members to a file a Claim Form online, and a Filing Agents page, which provides
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`information to assist agents with filing multiple accounts under one claim. Finally, there are
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`pages containing Frequently Asked Questions and a Contact Us page with contact information.
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`On August 2, 2019, SCS added a Plan of Allocation Guide under the Frequently Asked
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`Questions, in order to assist Class Members with determining whether their transaction(s) is/are
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`eligible to participate in the Settlement.
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`18.
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`Plaintiffs’ Counsel and SCS were concerned that because of the large number of
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`news articles, and the previous Alibaba stock settlement, potential Class Members might have a
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`difficult time locating the dedicated settlement website. SCS, with the approval of Plaintiffs’
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`Counsel, has thus been running a series of Google keyword search ads on common search terms
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`to ensure that the website is listed near the top of the first page of search results. Some common
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`search terms include “Alibaba settlement”, “Alibaba Class Action”, etc. Exhibit F is a sample
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`of one of the ads. SCS also updated the keywords and metadata and had Google re-index the
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`website. The keyword search ads have been shown over 23,000 times and potential Class
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`Members have clicked through to the settlement website over 2,700 times. The settlement
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`website’s click through rate of over 11% indicates this has been a successful strategy, web
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`reports well exceeds the 3% average click through rate across all ad segments. SCS continued
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`to run the ad campaign through the claims filing deadline of September 3, 2019.
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`19.
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`To date, the website had 82,263 pageviews from 12,626 unique users.
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`REPORT ON EXCLUSIONS AND OBJECTIONS
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`20.
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`The Notice informed potential Class Members that written requests for exclusion
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`are to be mailed to SCS such that they are received no later than September 25, 2019.
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`Specifically, the Notice advised potential Class Members seeking to request exclusion from the
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`Settlement that “[e]ach Request for Exclusion must:
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`(a) state the name, address and telephone number of the person or entity
`requesting exclusion, and in the case of entities, the name and telephone number
`of the appropriate contact person; (b) state that such person or entity “requests
`exclusion from the Class in Christine Asia Co. Ltd. et al. v. Jack Yun Ma et al.,
`Master File No. 1:15-md-02631-CM (SDA)”; (c) identify and state the number
`of Alibaba ADS, Alibaba Call Options, and/or Alibaba Put Options that the
`person or entity requesting exclusion purchased, acquired and sold during
`the Class Period (i.e., between September 19, 2014 and January 28, 2015,
`inclusive, other than those shares purchased directly in the September 19, 2014
`IPO), as well as the dates and prices of each such purchase/acquisition and sale;
`(d) provide adequate supporting documentation for the transactions for
`which the Class Member seeks exclusion in the form of broker confirmation
`slips, broker account statements, an authorized statement from the broker
`containing the transactional and holding information found in a broker
`confirmation slip or account statement, or such other documentation as is deemed
`adequate by Lead Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel; and (e) be signed by the
`person or entity requesting exclusion or an authorized representative.
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`Ex. A (Notice) at ¶54 (emphasis added).
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`21.
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`The Notice further advised that “[a] Request for Exclusion shall not be valid and
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`effective unless it provides all the information and documentation called for in this paragraph
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`and is received within the time stated above, or is otherwise accepted by the Court.” Ex. A at
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`¶54.
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`22.
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`SCS has been monitoring all mail delivered for this case. As of the date of this
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`Declaration, SCS has received 29 exclusion requests. Out of the 29 requests for exclusion, 14
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`provided the information required for a valid exclusion; 7 did not provide the information
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`required to be a valid exclusion; and 8 provided the information required, but their transaction
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`information indicated that they would not be eligible to receive a portion of the Settlement if a
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`Claim Form was filed. SCS has mailed letters to the 7 individuals requesting exclusion, but who
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`still have not provided necessary transaction information, notifying them that their request is
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`invalid and that the transaction and holding information is needed in order for their exclusion
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`request to be processed. Exhibit G is a compilation of the exclusion requests received. Exhibit
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`H is a chart of exclusions received. Exhibit H identifies (i) those individuals whose exclusion
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`requests have been determined to be valid by SCS, in conjunction with Plaintiffs’ Counsel, in
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`accordance with the instructions in the Notice, and (ii) the deficiencies in the currently invalid
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`requests for exclusion.
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`23.
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`In addition, SCS received one letter from a potential Class Member that does not
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`specifically state a request for exclusion but requests that SCS cease contact. See Ex. G at No.
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`30 (“I have sold all my U.S. stocks long ago, and have cancelled my U.S. stocks trading account.
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`So, please do not send any such letters (such as attached) to me in the future, because they are no
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`longer relevant to me.”). Even if it were treated as a request for exclusion, however, the request
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`would be invalid for failure to provide necessary transaction information. Ex. H at No. 30.
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`24.
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`According to the Notice, Class Members seeking to object to the Settlement, the
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`proposed Plan of Allocation or Lead Counsel’s motion for an award of attorneys’ fees and
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`reimbursement of Litigation Expenses are required to submit their objection in writing such that
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`the request is received by Lead Counsel and Defendants’ Counsel, as well as filed with the Clerk
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`for the Court’s Office no later than September 25, 2019. As of the date of this Declaration, SCS
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`has not received any objections.
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`STATUS REPORTS
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`25.
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`SCS and Plaintiffs’ Counsel have had and will continue to have weekly
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`conference calls to discuss the procedures of the notification process, the exclusions received,
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`and the incoming claims review and calculation process. SCS expects to continue the conference
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`calls throughout the Settlement administration period to provide and answer any questions from
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`Plaintiffs’ Counsel regarding the administration process.
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`26.
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`To date, SCS has received 164,058 claims.
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`I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
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`Signed this 9th day of September 2019, in Media, Pennsylvania.
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` ________________________
` Paul Mulholland
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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
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`
`
`CHRISTINE ASIA CO., LTD., et al.,
`
`
`No.: 1:15-md-02631-CM (SDA)
`
`Related cases:
`1:15-cv-00759-CM
`1:15-cv-00811-CM
`1:15-cv-00991-CM
`1:15-cv-01405-CM
`1:15-cv-05020-CM
`1:15-cv-04991-CM
`1:15-cv-05002-CM
`
`Plaintiffs,
`
`Defendants.
`
`
`
`
`JACK YUN MA, et al.,
`
`
`v.
`
`
`
`NOTICE OF (I) PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION AND PROPOSED SETTLEMENT;
`(II) SETTLEMENT HEARING; AND (III) MOTION FOR AN AWARD OF
`ATTORNEYS’ FEES AND REIMBURSEMENT OF LITIGATION EXPENSES
`
`A Federal Court authorized this Notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.
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`NOTICE OF PENDENCY OF CLASS ACTION: Please be advised that your rights may be affected by the above-
`captioned securities class action (the “MDL Action”) pending in the United States District Court for the Southern
`District of New York (the “Court”), if you purchased or otherwise acquired Alibaba Group Holding Limited
`(“Alibaba”) American Depositary Shares (“ADS”), or purchased call options or sold put options on Alibaba ADS,
`during the period September 19, 2014 through January 28, 2015, inclusive (the “Class Period”), other than those
`shares purchased directly in the September 19, 2014 Initial Public Offering (the “Class”).1
`NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT: Please also be advised that the Court-appointed Class Representatives William Tai,
`Christine Asia Co., Ltd., Abel Amoros, Arthur Gabriel, Raymond Lee, and Gang Liu (collectively “Plaintiffs”),
`on behalf of themselves and the Class (as defined in ¶ 26 below), have reached a proposed settlement of the MDL
`Action for $250,000,000 that, if approved, will resolve all claims in the MDL Action (the “Settlement”).
`The MDL Action is separate from a class action that was filed on behalf of Alibaba securities purchasers in
`California Superior Court, San Mateo County, that alleged violations of a different federal statute. That state
`court action was separately settled through a stipulation of settlement dated December 28, 2018, with final court
`approval anticipated in May 2019. Participation in the settlement of the state court action does not preclude
`participation in this Settlement.
`PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. This Notice explains important rights you may have,
`including the possible receipt of proceeds from the Settlement. If you are a member of the Class, your legal
`rights will be affected if you do not act.
`If you have any questions about this Notice, the proposed Settlement, or your eligibility to participate in the
`Settlement, please DO NOT contact Alibaba, any other defendants in the MDL Action, or their counsel.
`All questions should be directed to Lead Counsel or the Claims Administrator (see ¶ 67 below).
`1. Description of the MDL Action and the Class: This Notice relates to a proposed Settlement of claims
`in a pending securities class action brought by investors alleging, among other things, that defendants Alibaba,
`Jack Yun Ma (“Ma”), Joseph Tsai (“Tsai”), Jonathan Zhaoxi Lu (“Lu”), and Maggie Wei Wu (“Wu”)
`(collectively, the “Defendants”)2 violated the federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements
`and omissions in the Registration Statement for Alibaba’s September 19, 2014 Initial Public Offering (“IPO”). A
`
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`1 All capitalized terms used in this Notice that are not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in
`the Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement dated April 26, 2019 (the “Stipulation”), which is available at
`www.AlibabaSettlement.com.
`2 Defendants Ma, Tsai, Lu, and Wu are collectively referred to herein as the “Individual Defendants.”
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`more detailed description of the MDL Action is set forth in paragraphs 11-25 below. The proposed Settlement, if
`approved by the Court, will settle claims of the Class, as defined in paragraph 26 below.
`Statement of the Class’s Recovery: Subject to Court approval, Plaintiffs, on behalf of themselves and
`2.
`the Class, have agreed to settle the MDL Action in exchange for a settlement payment of $250,000,000 (the
`“Settlement Amount”) to be deposited into an escrow account. The Net Settlement Fund (i.e., the Settlement
`Amount plus any and all interest earned thereon (the “Settlement Fund”) less (a) any Taxes, (b) any Notice and
`Administration Costs, (c) any Litigation Expenses awarded by the Court, and (d) any attorneys’ fees awarded by
`the Court) will be distributed in accordance with a plan of allocation that is approved by the Court, which will
`determine how the Net Settlement Fund shall be allocated among members of the Class. The proposed plan of
`allocation (the “Plan of Allocation”) is set forth on pages 10-18 below.
`Estimate of Average Amount of Recovery Per Share: Plaintiffs’ damages expert estimates that
`3.
`approximately 397,299,879 shares of Alibaba ADS and 82,379,100 Alibaba call options3 purchased, and
`53,363,400 Alibaba put options sold, during the Class Period may have been affected by the conduct allegedly at
`issue in the MDL Action. If all eligible Class Members elect to participate in the Settlement, the estimated
`average recovery would be approximately $0.57 per affected ADS, $0.14 per affected call option, and $0.24 per
`affected put option (before the deduction of any Court-approved fees, expenses and costs as described herein).
`Class Members should note, however, that the foregoing is only an estimate. Some Class Members may recover
`more or less than these estimated amounts depending on, among other factors, when and at what prices they
`purchased/acquired or sold/disposed of their Alibaba Securities, and the total number of valid Proof of Claim and
`Release Forms (“Claim Form”) submitted. Distributions to Class Members will be made based on the Plan of
`Allocation set forth herein (see pages 10-18 below) or such other plan of allocation as may be ordered by the
`Court.
`4. Average Amount of Damages Per Share: The Parties do not agree on the average amount of damages
`per share that would be recoverable if Plaintiffs were to prevail in the MDL Action. Among other things,
`Defendants do not agree with Plaintiffs’ allegation that they violated the federal securities laws or that any
`damages were suffered by any members of the Class as a result of their alleged conduct.
`5. Attorneys’ Fees and Expenses Sought: Plaintiffs’ Counsel, which have been prosecuting the MDL
`Action on a wholly contingent basis since its inception in 2015, have not received any payment of attorneys’ fees
`for their representation of the Class and have advanced the funds to pay expenses necessarily incurred to
`prosecute this MDL Action. Court-appointed Lead Counsel, The Rosen Law Firm, P.A., will apply to the Court
`for an award of attorneys’ fees for all Plaintiffs’ Counsel in an amount not to exceed 25% of the Settlement Fund
`(which includes accrued interest). In addition, Lead Counsel will apply for reimbursement of Litigation Expenses
`paid or incurred in connection with the institution, prosecution and resolution of the claims against the
`Defendants, in an amount not to exceed $5,000,000, which may include an application for award(s) sufficient to
`reimburse the reasonable costs and expenses incurred by Plaintiffs, including lost wages, directly related to their
`representation of the Class in an amount not to exceed $12,500 for each representative Plaintiff. Any fees and
`expenses awarded by the Court will be paid from the Settlement Fund. Class Members are not personally liable
`for any such fees or expenses. If the maximum amounts are requested and the Court approves Lead Counsel’s fee
`and expense application, the estimated average amount of fees and expenses, assuming claims are filed for all
`affected shares, call options, and put options will be approximately $0.15 per affected Alibaba ADS, $0.04 per
`affected call option, and $0.07 per affected put option.
`Identification of Class Counsel: Plaintiffs and the Class are represented by Laurence Rosen, Esq. of
`6.
`The Rosen Law Firm, P.A., 275 Madison Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10016, (212) 686-1060,
`alibabasettlement@rosenlegal.com.
`7. Reasons for the Settlement: Plaintiffs’ principal reason for entering into the Settlement is the
`substantial immediate cash benefit for the Class without the risk or the delays inherent in further litigation.
`Moreover, the substantial cash benefit provided under the Settlement must be considered against the significant
`risk that a smaller recovery – or indeed no recovery at all – might be achieved after contested motions, a trial of
`the MDL Action and the likely appeals that would follow a trial. This process could be expected to last several
`years. Defendants, who deny all allegations of wrongdoing or liability whatsoever, are entering into the
`Settlement solely
`to eliminate
`the uncertainty, burden and expense of further protracted
`litigation.
`
`
`
`
`3 All options-related amounts in this paragraph are per share of the underlying security (i.e., 1/100 of a contract).
`
`
`
` 2
`
`

`

`SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM
`POSTMARKED NO LATER THAN
`SEPTEMBER 3, 2019.
`
`Case 1:15-md-02631-CM-SDA Document 132-1 Filed 09/12/19 Page 15 of 218
`
`YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THE SETTLEMENT:
`This is the only way to be eligible to receive a payment from the
`Settlement Fund. If you are a Class Member and you remain in
`the Class, you will be bound by the Settlement as approved by
`the Court and you will give up any Released Plaintiffs’ Claims
`(defined in ¶ 35 below) that you have against Defendants’
`Releasees (defined in ¶ 36 below), so it is in your interest to
`submit a Claim Form.
`If you exclude yourself from the Class, you will not be eligible
`to receive any payment from the Settlement Fund. Excluding
`yourself from the Class is the only option that allows you ever to
`be part of any other lawsuit against any of Defendants’
`Releasees concerning the Released Plaintiffs’ Claims.
`
`If you do not like the proposed Settlement, the proposed Plan of
`Allocation, or the request for attorneys’ fees and reimbursement
`of Litigation Expenses, you may write to the Court and explain
`why you do not like them. You cannot object to the Settlement,
`the Plan of Allocation or the fee and expense request unless you
`are a Class Member and do not exclude yourself from the Class.
`Filing a written objection and notice of intention