Midstream Investments Ltd.

Bermuda resident Thomas Carr has lost an attempt to avoid being deposed by KPMG (Bermuda), which is seeking to avoid liability in a class action lawsuit concerning its audits of Bermuda reinsurer Annuity & Life Re (Holdings) Ltd. Shortly after Carr's Midstream Investments Ltd. was served with a deposition notice on April 25, 2007, the company applied for a protection order to prevent the deposition and also sought to withdraw as lead plaintiff in the action, which was initiated in 2003.

Did a major U. S. law firm illegally pay a Bermuda-based investment firm to serve as lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against KPMG (Bermuda) regarding its audits of Annuity & Life Re (Holdings) Ltd.?That's what KPMG wants to know before discovery winds up in an action at the U. S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. However, rather than answer that and other questions, the investment firm, Midstream Investments Ltd., has filed an eleventh-hour motion to withdraw from the case entirely and for a protective order to avoid being forced to provide evidence.

KPMG's operations in Bermuda, the United States and the United Kingdom are defendants in a class action lawsuit filed by shareholders of financially troubled Annuity & Life Re (Holdings) Ltd., which it audited. The complaint was filed by Communications Workers of America, and Midstream Investments Ltd. at the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut on October 23, 2003.