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CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL CORPORATION:

by Open-Publishing - Wednesday 22 August 2007

Justice Trade-Exchange Rates USA

CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL CORPORATION:

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LERACH COUGHLIN STOIA GELLER RUDMAN & ROBBINS LLP FILES CLASS ACTION SUIT AGAINST COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL CORPORATION

August 20, 2007 – Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (“Lerach Coughlin”)

http://www.lerachlaw.com/cases/countrywide/

today announced that a class action has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on behalf of purchasers of Countrywide Financial Corporation (“Countrywide”) (NYSE:CFC) common stock during the period between January 31, 2006 and August 9, 2007 (the “Class Period”).

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from August 14, 2007. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Darren Robbins of Lerach Coughlin at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at wsl@lerachlaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.lerachlaw.com/cases/countrywide/. Any member of the purported class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges Countrywide and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Countrywide is engaged in mortgage lending and other real estate finance-related businesses, including mortgage banking, banking and mortgage warehouse lending, dealing in securities and insurance underwriting.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business and financial results. As a result of defendants’ false statements, Countrywide stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, reaching a high of $44.94 per share, and certain of the defendants were able to sell over $440 million worth of their Countrywide shares at artificially inflated prices.

On July 24, 2007, defendants were forced to publicly disclose that Countrywide was recording hundreds of millions of dollars of impaired losses in addition to those recorded in the first quarter of 2007, causing its stock to drop to $30.50 per share. Later on August 9, 2007, upon the filing of the Company’s Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2007, Countrywide’s stock dropped to $24.71 and then, as the market began to appreciate the extent of Countrywide’s problems, to below $20 per share.

According to the complaint, the true facts, which were known to defendants but concealed from the investing public during the Class Period, were: (a) the Company lacked requisite internal controls, and, as a result, the Company’s projections and reported results issued during the Class Period were based upon defective assumptions and/or manipulated facts; (b) inflated appraisals of properties on loan applications would make Countrywide’s losses much larger than current reserve levels once real estate values cooled off, but the Company was failing to adjust its reserve levels to account for this phenomenon; (c) the Company’s financial statements were materially misstated due to its failure to properly account for its allowance for loan losses; and (d) given the deterioration and the increased volatility in the mortgage market, the Company would be forced to tighten its credit guidelines and implement additional lending restrictions, which would have a direct material negative impact on its loan productions going forward.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Countrywide common stock during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Lerach Coughlin, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.

Lerach Coughlin, a 180-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Houston and Philadelphia, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. Lerach Coughlin lawyers have been responsible for more than $45 billion in aggregate recoveries. The Lerach Coughlin Web site ( http://www.lerachlaw.com ) has more information about the firm.

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