http://www.cuminggillespie.com

On behalf of our clients, we are pleased that the RCMP is moving forward with charges against some of the principals of the HMS Investment Scheme.  We will continue to push forward in civil court with the certified class action lawsuit in an effort to assist victims with recouping their losses.

Cuming & Gillespie and McLennan Ross LLP
HMS Class Action Co Counsel

On September 30, 2009, the San Diego Court appointed a receiver with respect to distribution of the seized funds in the First National Bank of San Diego. The receiver is currently reviewing all claims. We hope that he will have a decision with respect to distribution in the next 3 months.

For class members who signed up with us prior to the Opt-In / Opt-Out process, we are now wrapping up our Assurance Fund Application process. We have advised clients with outstanding applications that the deadline for returning them is January 30, 2009, and shortly thereafter we will be seeking a meeting with the Law Society of Alberta to discuss where the applications are at.

Following an Order from Justice Rooke seeking the assistance of the Court in San Diego in paying out traceable claims that had already been submitted and then paying the remainder of the funds into the action in Alberta for the benefit of the Class, and our subsequently successful application in San Diego, there was an appeal of Justice Rooke’s order filed by Clint Docken on behalf of four defendants, Skyward Management Inc., Victor Bauman, 1037149 Alberta Ltd. operating as Cedar Management and Stan Remin. We are currently finalizing our appeal Factum in this matter, and the appeal will be heard in April of 2010.

We have also been working on preparing materials to oppose Summary Dismissal Applications by the Financial Institution Defendants. We have cross-examined the witnesses that they had swear affidavits in support of their motions, and will be filing briefs with respect to same early in the New Year. The Application will be heard in February 2010. If we are successful, then we will proceed to Examinations for Discovery of the Defendant banks.

We appear to have settled a claim in Indiana which should realize $50,000.00 for the Class.

We continue to entertain settlement discussions with counsel for the defendant lawyer Dana Carlson. We will be conducting Examinations for Discovery of Mr. Carlson in December.

We will continue to update you with any news if there is anything to update you with. But please remember that we ask that you NOT CALL OR E-MAIL FOR UPDATES. It is very time consuming and expensive for us to deal with class members seeking individual updates, so please understand that if you do not receive an update for several months, this means that there is nothing newsworthy to share with you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Yours truly,
Lynn Sedgwick (for Graham McLennan)
Paralegal - Litigation
McLennan Ross LLP
Toll Free: 1-800-567-9200
Direct Line: (780) 482-9281
Fax: (780) 482-9100

McLENNAN ROSS LLP / CUMING & GILLESPIE LAWYERS

We are pleased to report that on June 23, 2009, Judge Miller of the United States District Court of Southern California granted our Motion to Intervene in the Interpleader Application in San Diego.  Jude Miller ordered that only directly traceable claims are to be recognized, that the aggregators with directly traceable claims will not be recognized and must await the outcome of the Canadian action and that the funds remaining after the directly traceable claims and administrative expenses are paid will be paid into court in our action.

This successful application is the result of several years work, and we are pleased with the outcome.

On another note, on or about June 12, 2009, the Notice of Class Action was sent to the last known address for any investors we had record of, other than those investors who have already signed a Contingency Fee Agreement with us.  These investors will have 60 days to Opt Into (for Non-Alberta residents), or Opt-Out of (for Alberta Residents) the Class Action.

We are also in the process of exchanging document productions with Defendants, and scheduling Examinations for Discoveries of those parties on their documents throughout the coming summer and fall.

We will continue to update you with any news if there is anything to update you with.  But please remember that we ask that you not call or e-mail for updates.  It is very time consuming and expensive for us to deal with clients seeking individual updates, so please understand that if you do not receive an update for several months, this means that there is nothing newsworthy to share with you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Yours truly,

Lynn Dechaine (for Graham McLennan)

Paralegal - Litigation
McLennan Ross LLP
Toll Free: 1-800-567-9200
Direct Line: (780) 482-9281
Fax: (780) 482-9100

An amended statement of claim for the HMS Financial case has been posted to the case page.

McLENNAN ROSS LLP / CUMING GILLESPIE RAYMAKER

We are very pleased to report that on October 10, 2008 we received the decision from Justice Rooke certifying our action as a Class Action as well as dismissing, with some minor qualifications, the applications by the defendant Banks to strike the action against them. We see this as a major success in the action.

What does certification of the action mean? Certification is the first critical step in a Class Action lawsuit. It is what turns a regular action on behalf of only the representative plaintiffs who filed the Statement of Claim, into an action on behalf of all of the innocent investors in the HMS Scheme. This will require the Defendants to evaluate the risk against them. The claim is now a much bigger amount, as it is on behalf of the whole Plaintiff class rather than two or three individual plaintiffs. There is the possibility that the defendants, or some of the defendants, could appeal the decision. But certification of the action means that we can now begin the process of regular litigation, including exchange of documents between the parties as well as Examinations for Discovery of the major defendants in the litigation.

We thank you all for your patience. We understand how slow litigation can seem, especially in cases this complicated and involving so many parties. We ask that you continue to be patient, as, while the litigation will now be able to move forward, the next steps can still be time consuming and slow moving.

We will continue to update you with any news if there is anything to update you with. But please remember that we ask that you please not call or e-mail for updates. It is very time consuming and expensive for us to deal with clients seeking individual updates, so please understand that if you do not receive an update for several months, this means that there is nothing newsworthy to share with you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Yours truly,

Lynn Dechaine (for Graham McLennan)
Paralegal - Litigation
McLennan Ross LLP
Toll Free: 1-800-567-9200
Direct Line: (780) 482-9281
Fax: (780) 482-9100

An amended order from the court on the HMS Financial case has been posted.

This e-mail is to update you on developments since our August 7, 2007 update on the status of this litigation.

As of this update, we do not have a decision from the Court with regard to the Certification of our action as a Class Action.

We continue to work with counsel in the United States to have the HMS investor funds frozen in the First National Bank of San Diego transferred to the Alberta Courts.

We are also working with counsel in Indiana to recover funds which were invested by Garth Bailey, and which we believe are HMS investor funds.

We continue to prepare and submit Assurance Fund Applications for those clients who responded that they would like us to do so on their behalf. To date we have submitted over 60 applications. To date the Law Society has responded with requests for further information, which we are now responding to in advance for all new applications. No other timeline for response has yet been
given.

On November 23, 2007 an application was heard with respect to a request by the Alberta Lawyers’ Insurance Association (”ALIA”) and the Canadian Lawyers’ Insurance Association (”CLIA”) to have a referee appointed with respect to the review and production of the Defendant Lawyers Bailey and Carlson’s Trust Records, at the Plaintiffs’ cost. The application by ALIA/CLIA was dismissed,
however, ALIA/CLIA are permitted to use the referee they were proposing at their cost. ALIA/CLIA was given 60 days to make a decision on whether or not they wished to proceed with their referee. Further, 60 days after November 23, all documents requested from Bailey and Carlson will be released to Plaintiffs’ counsel, unless ALIA/CLIA have elected to pay for and invoke the referee process.

Please note that Mr. Bill McNally of McNally Cuming Raymaker has retired. With his retirement, the firm of McNally Cuming Raymaker has changed its name to Cuming Gillespie Raymaker. The new website containing the information on our action is
www.cuminggillespie.com/practice-areas/class-action/securities/
hms-financial-inc.html.

Also, please remember that we try our best to keep you up to date on how things are proceeding and that we will provide you with updates as there is news to update you with. If you do not receive an update for several months, this means that there is nothing newsworthy to share with you.

Yours truly,

Lynn Dechaine (for Graham McLennan)
Paralegal - Litigation
McLennan Ross LLP
Toll Free: 1-800-567-9200
Direct Line: (780) 482-9281
Fax: (780) 482-9100

McLENNAN ROSS LLP / McNALLY CUMING RAYMAKER

This is to update you on developments since our April 26, 2006 update on the status of this litigation.

As of this update, we do not have a decision from the Court with regard to the Certification of our action as a Class Action.

We continue to work with counsel in the United States to have the HMS investor funds frozen in the First National Bank of San Diego transferred to the Alberta Courts.

We are also working with counsel in Indiana to recover funds which were invested by Garth Bailey, and which we believe are HMS investor funds.

On July 25, 2007 the Court approved our application for settlement with Garth S. Bailey, Garth S. Bailey Professional Corporation, Katherine Rodrigue-Bailey and her company Kirby Audit Services Inc. In summary, the terms of the Settlement are as follows:

• Judgment against Garth S. Bailey and Garth S. Bailey Professional Corporation for an amount to be determined;
• Garth S. Bailey and Garth S. Bailey Professional Corporation will disclose all trust records in their possession as they relate to the operation of the HMS Scheme to Plaintiff Class Counsel;
• Garth S. Bailey and Garth S. Bailey Professional Corporation shall provide full cooperation, without compensation, to the Plaintiffs with respect to the operation of HMS and related Defendant corporations, and with respect to any details regarding information as to the possible whereabouts of HMS investor funds;
• Payment of $27,504.00 by Katherine Rodrigue-Bailey and Kirby Audit Services Inc.

While the settlement amount may seem minimal, Mr. and Mrs. Bailey’s assets are minimal. The purpose of settlement with Mr. Bailey is to obtain his full co-operation in assisting us with pursuing other, more realistic avenues of recovery. Mr. Bailey has already sworn affidavits in support of our applications in San Diego and Indiana with respect to transferring investor funds to the Alberta Courts.

Yours truly,

Lynn Dechaine (for Graham McLennan)
Paralegal - Litigation
McLennan Ross LLP
Toll Free: 1-800-567-9200
Direct Line: (780) 482-9281
Fax: (780) 482-9100

The April 26, 2007 HMS Certification update has been posted to the HMS Financial documents page.

Discontinuance of Actions filed to date have been listed on the HMS Financial page.