SAN FRANCISCO - (BUSINESS WIRE) - September 16, 2002 - Kevin Olson of MunicipalBonds.com represented by Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach LLP today announced a private attorney general lawsuit has been filed against the major Wall Street brokerages for unfair and unreasonable fees in sale of municipal bonds. Defendants in the case are Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER), Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., UBS Paine Webber, Inc., Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. (NYSE: BSC), Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., Prudential Securities, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (NYSE: SCH), U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC). Plaintiff Kevin Olson of MunicipalBonds.com brings this action on behalf of the general public as a California private attorney general.

The complaint charges Municipal Bond brokers with charging excessive and undisclosed fees on municipal bond transactions with their customers. Many of these fees are thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars despite the fact that municipal brokers' costs for these near riskless transactions are minimal. Such fees violate California's unfair business practice statute and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules that require that municipal brokers deal fairly with its customers and that its pricing and fees be fair and reasonable.

The complaint seeks an injunction against defendants' imposition of excessive fees in the secondary market for municipal bonds.

The municipal bond market encompasses approximately $2 trillion in outstanding bonds and is an integral part of state and municipal financing. The vast majority of trades in this market are in the secondary market where bonds originally purchased from a municipality are resold. In this secondary market unfair pricing and excessive fees run rampant. Unfair pricing costs consumers and municipalities billions of dollars a year. This lawsuit is designed to remedy these abuses and achieve fair pricing and full disclosure for buyers and sellers of municipal bonds in the secondary market.

For purchasers or sellers of municipal bonds, Municipalbonds.com has joined forces with Milberg Weiss to offer a free internet evaluation of your transaction to help you determine whether you were given a fair price by your broker. This service is available at http://www.municipalbonds.com starting at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, September 16, 2002.

Kevin Olson is the founder and executive director of MunicipalBonds.com, a public benefit information site and investor advocate in the area of municipal bonds and public finance. Municipalbonds.com has two goals: fair, reasonable and efficient pricing in the municipal bond markets and the development of fair disclosure in the municipal bond markets. MunicipalBonds.com has issued four "Red Flag" reports detailing the worst bond spreads of 2000, 2001 and the first two quarters of 2002 which are available at http://www.municipalbonds.com. Municipal Bonds also produces daily reports for the United States and for most states.

Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes and Lerach LLP, a 170 lawyer firm with offices in New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boca Raton, Seattle, and Philadelphia is active in numerous leading securities litigation in federal and state courts throughout the United States. Milberg Weiss has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of World War II and other human rights violations, and has been responsible for more than $30 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Milberg Weiss web site (http://www.milberg.com) has more information about the firm.

If you would like to know more about this case, have information about the case, or would like to become a plaintiff in the case please contact:

Kevin Olson 415/922-7870
MunicipalBonds.com
Kevin@municipalbonds.com

Stan Mallison 415/288-4545
Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes and Lerach
municipalbonds@milberg.com