Weatherford SEC Fair Fund

You received the Notice because records indicate you may have purchased or acquired Weatherford common stock (“Eligible Securities”) during the period from February 25, 2009, through November 12, 2012, inclusive (“Relevant Period”). The notice you received is designed to notify you of the Fair Fund and to inform you that you may be entitled to share in the proceeds of the Fair Fund.

A copy of the Notices can be found here.

On September 27, 2016, the Commission issued the Weatherford Order against the Weatherford Respondents. In the Weatherford Order, the Commission found that, between 2007 and 2012, Weatherford, a large multinational provider of oil and natural gas equipment and services, issued false financial statements that inflated its earnings by over $900 million in violation of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”). As a result, Weatherford was forced to restate its financial statements on March 8, 2011, and again in February and July 2012. As a result of the conduct described in the Weatherford Order, the Commission ordered the Weatherford Respondents to pay a total of $140,364,067 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties. All the amounts ordered have been paid. Pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley”), the Weatherford Order created a Fair Fund for distribution of the amounts ordered to harmed investors.

On October 18, 2016, the Commission issued the E&Y Order against the E&Y Respondents. According to the E&Y Order, the E&Y Respondents violated the federal securities laws and engaged in improper professional conduct while serving as the external auditor, coordinating (i.e., signing) partner, and tax partner, respectively for Weatherford in connection with its 2007-2010 financial statements. As a result of this conduct, the Commission ordered the E&Y Respondents to pay a total of $11,840,107 in disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil money penalties to the Commission, and created a Fair Fund, pursuant to Section 308(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley of 2002.

On November 30, 2017, the Commission issued an Order consolidating the Weatherford and Ernst & Young Fair Funds into a single Fair Fund for distribution to harmed investors, for a total Fair Fund in the amount of $152,204,174 (the “Fair Fund”).

To qualify for a Distribution Payment from the Fair Fund, Claimants must satisfy the criteria used to calculate a Recognized Loss as set forth in Exhibit A (Plan of Allocation) to the Plan, available here. You can also request a copy of the Plan by calling the Fund Administrator at 800-581-1152 or by emailing info@WeatherfordSECFairFund.com.

The eligibility criteria include the following:

• You must have purchased or otherwise acquired Weatherford common stock (“Eligible Securities”) during the period from February 25, 2009, through November 12, 2012, inclusive (“Relevant Period”).
• Your approved transactions must calculate to a Recognized Loss as calculated under the Plan and your Distribution Payment must equal or exceed $10.00.

PLEASE NOTE: RECEIPT OF THE NOTICE DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU ARE AN ELIGIBLE CLAIMANT AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE PLAN.

You are excluded from participation in the Weatherford SEC Fair Fund if you are an Excluded Party as defined in the Plan, including:

• A Respondent or any Defendant named in the Complaints in the Class Actions;
• Any employee or former employee of the Respondent or any of its affiliates who has been terminated for cause or has otherwise resigned in connection with the conduct described in the Orders;
• Any Person who, as of the Claims Bar Date, has been the subject of criminal charges related to the conduct described in the Orders or any related Commission action;
• Members of the immediate family of the individual Respondents or any Defendant named in the Class Actions;
• Any firm, trust, partnership, corporation, present or former officer, director or other individual or entity in which any of the Respondents or Defendants named in the Complaint or in the Class Action(s) have a controlling interest or which is related to or affiliated with any of the Respondents or Defendants named in the Class Actions;
• The legal representatives, heirs, successors-in-interest or assigns of any such excluded persons or entities;
• Persons whose only acquisition of the Security during the Relevant Period was via gift or inheritance if the Person from which the Security was received did not themselves acquire the Security during the Relevant Period;
• Any purchaser or assignee of another Persons’ right to obtain a recovery from the Fair Fund for value; provided however, this provision shall not be construed to exclude those Persons who obtained such a right by gift, inheritance, or devise;
• The Fund Administrator, its employees and those persons assisting the Fund Administrator in its role as Fund Administrator.

On July 16, 2020, the Commission issued an Order appointing Epiq Systems, Inc. (“Epiq”) as the fund administrator.

Weatherford common stock must have been purchased or acquired between February 25, 2009 and November 12, 2012.

On November 30, 2017, the Commission issued an Order consolidating the Weatherford and Ernst & Young Fair Funds into a single Fair Fund for distribution to harmed investors, for a total Fair Fund in the amount of $152,204,174 (the “Fair Fund”).

The Fair Fund is currently deposited in a Commission designated interest-bearing account at the United States Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service, where it will be held until a disbursement is ordered. It is not anticipated that the Fair Fund will receive additional funds, other than accumulated interest and earnings from investment.

If you submitted a Proof of Claim Form in the settlement of the related securities class actions and your claim was approved, you are automatically deemed an Eligible Claimant with respect to those transactions that were approved. If you do not wish to amend your claim, you do not need to submit a Proof of Claim Form for those previously approved transactions. If you had additional purchases of eligible securities during the Relevant Period, in addition to your approved transactions, you must submit a Proof of Claim Form in order to potentially recover for those additional purchases from the Fair Fund.

If you are a Class Action Deficient Claimant and you do not wish to amend the transactional history in the claim you filed in the Class Action, do not submit another Proof of Claim Form. However, you will need to provide documentation for your deficient transactions in order to be potentially eligible to recover from the Fair Fund. If you had additional purchases of eligible securities during the Relevant Period, in addition to your deficient transactions, you must submit a Proof of Claim Form in order to potentially recover for those additional purchases from the Fair Fund.

If you did not submit a claim in the Class Action or you wish to file a Proof of Claim Form for additional transactions not included in your Class Action claim as mentioned previously, you must complete and sign the Proof of Claim Form and submit it, along with appropriate documentation, to the Fund Administrator so that it is postmarked or, if not mailed, received no later than September 26, 2024 at the address listed below in order to be eligible to recover from the Weatherford SEC Fund:

Weatherford SEC Fair Fund
c/o Epiq
Fund Administrator
P.O. Box 10574
Dublin, Ohio 43017

You must document each transaction that you include on your Claim Form. Acceptable forms of supporting documentation include, but are not limited to:

1. Trade confirmation slips from brokerage firms that list the security name, the name of the beneficial owner, the type of transaction, the date of the transaction, the number of shares, and the total amount of the transaction; or
2. Monthly statements from brokerage firms that detail all activity within a month.

Acceptable documentation must include the name of the owner or owners of the account for which you are filing a claim, the name of the broker through whom the security was traded, trade date, number of shares purchased, acquired and/or sold, and price paid (excluding brokers’ commissions, taxes and fees).

Acceptable documentation includes contract notes, brokers’ confirmation slips, account activity pages from brokers’ computer printouts (including the front page), or account activity pages from brokers’ monthly statements (including the front page), if those statements contain the required information. Letters from your broker are acceptable only if they are on the brokers’ letterhead and contain the required information listed above. Your own records or certificates DO NOT constitute acceptable documentation. We cannot pre-approve any documentation as acceptable without seeing it first.

Depending on how you acquired your investment, you can generally obtain the necessary documentation to submit with a Claim Form from:

1. your broker;
2. your tax advisor; and/or
3. the person/party from whom you purchased, or through whom you sold, the security.

Acceptable supporting documentation must be included with your completed Claim Form, or your claim may be rejected.

You should enter the account number from the brokerage statements and/or confirmation slips in which you made transactions in eligible securities in the Weatherford SEC Fair Fund.

Please note that a Proof of Claim Form should only be submitted if you received a Class Action Potentially Eligible New Claimant Notice.

If you received a Class Action Authorized Claimant Notice, a Proof of Claim Form should only be submitted if you choose to amend the previously approved Class Action claim.

If you received a Class Action Deficient Claimant Notice, a Proof of Claim Form should only be submitted if you provide new transactional information to supplement the previously deficient Class Action claim. If you plan on only curing the existing deficiencies from the previously deficient Class Action claim, please submit the documentation to cure those deficiencies only. A Proof of Claim Form would not be needed to indicate existing deficient transactions.

The deadline to submit a completed and signed Claim Form with the necessary documentation is September 26, 2024. The Claim Form must be postmarked, or, if not sent by U.S. mail, received by the Fund Administrator (Epiq) by this date.

If your claim is deficient in any way, you will receive a Deficiency Notice that outlines the problem(s) with the claim and how to resolve it (them). Complete the requirements to the best of your ability. You may add documentation to or update your claim in order to cure the deficiency (deficiencies).

Until all claims have been fully processed, it is not possible to determine the amount of any individual payment because the amount will depend on a variety of factors, including the number of valid claims processed, the amount of Weatherford common stock that you purchased, and when you purchased and sold these shares. In addition, in order for a claim to be paid, it must equal or exceed the Distribution De Minimis Amount of $10.00.

As a long-established firm, Epiq's electronic systems, software applications, and employee and operational protocols are all designed to protect and secure the case information provided to us. Further, Epiq is obligated to fulfill the security requirements mandated by the various court jurisdictions and governmental entities that oversee the various types of cases it administers.

You may contact the Fund Administrator by calling toll-free 800-581-1152, sending an email to Info@WeatherfordSECFairFund.com, or by writing to:

Weatherford SEC Fair Fund
c/o Epiq
PO Box 10574
Dublin, OH 43017

Ticker: WFT, WFRD

CUSIP: 947074100, BMG950891017, CH0038838394, G95089101, H27013103