Securities and Investment Fraud News

SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUITS AND INVESTOR LOSSES DROP SIGNIFICANTLY IN 2005

2006-04-17T21:00:00-07:00

Boston & Palo Alto, January 3, 2006 A report released today by the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse in cooperation with Cornerstone Research finds the number of securities fraud class actions filed in 2005 decreased more than 17 percent compared to 2004 levels, falling from 213 filings to 176...

International Arbitration And Mediation

2006-04-17T21:00:00-07:00

Sixteen specialist panels will examine Cultural Considerations in International Arbitration; Bridging the Divide - Civil vs...

NASD Updates Mutual Fund Breakpoint Search Tool

2006-04-26T21:00:00-07:00

Based on user feedback, NASD recently updated the Mutual Fund Breakpoint Search Tool with improved readability of fund information and enhanced search features...

SOME NEWLY FILED CLASS ACTIONS:

2006-06-01T21:00:00-07:00

BAR/BRI and Kaplan (allegedly violated antitrust laws by charging law students excessive fees for bar prep courses) Information Provided By: [McGuireWoods] [EMAIL LAWYER] City of San Diego (alleging affordable housing law is unconstitutional) [UNION TRIBUNE] [EMAIL LAWYER] Sioux Valley Hospitals and Avera Health (allegedly breached an implied contract and violated state law on deceptive trade practices) [INSURANCE JOURNAL] [EMAIL LAWYER] Great Expectations (alleging unfair business practices and violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act) [LAW...

NASD Foundation Study Examines What Makes Elderly Susceptible To Investment Fraud

2006-07-20T21:00:00-07:00

SEC Approves Revision Of Customer And Industry Portions Of NASD Code Of Arbitration Procedure

2007-02-28T22:00:00-07:00

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the NASD Codes of Arbitration Procedure for Customer and Industry Disputes (hereinafter referred to as the Customer and Industry Codes, respectively, or new Codes)...

Morgan Stanley Will Pay $8 Million To Settle Fraud Case

2007-05-13T21:00:00-07:00

Morgan Stanley agreed Wednesday to pay nearly $8 million to settle federal fraud charges stemming from its reported failure to get retail stock investors the best prices possible on more than a million over-the-counter transactions...

Citigroup/Smith Barney Pays $5 Million To State Of New Jersey For Deceptive Activities

2007-07-24T21:00:00-07:00

NEWARK, NJ - Citigroup Global Markets Inc. has been ordered to cease and desist from violations of the New Jersey Uniform Securities Law, and to pay the state $5 million in civil monetary penalties under the terms of a consent order announced today by Attorney General Anne Milgram, Consumer Affairs Acting Director Stephen B...

Court Approves $100 Million Settlement In Class Action Against American Express Financial Advisors

2007-07-26T21:00:00-07:00

On July 19, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Deborah A. Batts, Southern District of New York, entered an order granting final approval of a $100 million settlement of the class action lawsuit brought by customers of American Express Financial Advisors ("AEFA," now known as Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc...

FINRA Eyes Mutual Service Corp. For VA Oversight

2007-08-28T21:00:00-07:00

Mutual Service Corp. of West Palm Beach Fla., and five of its principals are the subjects of a complaint by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority concerning allegedly shoddy and inaccurate books and records over sales of variable annuities, including tax-free exchanges, known as 1035 exchanges...

Legacy Financial Closes Shop

2007-09-05T21:00:00-07:00

Another independent broker-dealer has shut its doors, months after one of its brokers got in trouble with regulators...

Rutgers Securities Litigation And Enforcment Class

2007-10-05T21:00:00-07:00

Rutgers Securities Litigation And Enforcement Securities Arbitration Outline

2007-10-07T21:00:00-07:00

Outline contains citations to certain cases and statutes, which do not appear in the Casebook, but which are available on Lexis...

Attorney General Lori Swanson Settles Suit Against Allianz Allianz Will Provide Restitution To Seniors And Implement More Stringent Suitability Processes

2007-10-08T21:00:00-07:00

Attorney General Lori Swanson Settles Suit Against Allianz Allianz will provide restitution to seniors and implement more stringent suitability processes Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson announced today the settlement of a lawsuit she brought in January against Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America for selling deferred annuities to Minnesota senior citizens without first determining whether the annuities were suitable investments for the seniors...

CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INC. FINED $2.5 MILLION FOR FAILURE TO DELIVER PROSPECTUS

2007-10-10T21:00:00-07:00

N E W Y O R K S T O C K E X C H A N G E L L C NYSE HEARING BOARD DECISION 07-143 September 7, 2007 CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS INC...

BANC OF AMERICA SECURITIES LLC FINED FOR FAILURE TO SUPERVISE

2007-10-10T21:00:00-07:00

N E W Y O R K S T O C K E X C H A N G E L L C NYSE HEARING BOARD DECISION 07-129 September 7, 2007 BANC OF AMERICA SECURITIES LLC MEMBER ORGANIZATION * * * Violated NYSE Rule 401(a) by failing to ensure delivery of prospectuses in connection with sales of registered securities in violation of Section 5(b)(2) of Securities Act of 1933; violated NYSE Rule 1100(b) by failing to deliver product descriptions to customers that purchased Exchange Traded Funds; violated NYSE Rule 342 by failing to provide for, establish, and maintain appropriate procedures of supervision and control, including system of follow-up and review, with respect to operational and technological activities relating to delivery of certain product descriptions and prospectuses ? Consent to censure, $375,000 fine, and undertaking...

Wachovia Securities Fined For Failure To Delivery Prospectuses

2007-10-10T21:00:00-07:00

N E W Y O R K S T O C K E X C H A N G E L L C NYSE HEARING BOARD DECISION 07-116 September 7, 2007 WACHOVIA CAPITAL MARKETS LLC MEMBER ORGANIZATION * * * Violated NYSE Rule 1100(b) by failing to deliver product descriptions to customers that purchased Exchanged Traded Funds; violated NYSE Rule 342 by failing to provide for, establish, and maintain appropriate procedures of supervision and control, including system of follow-up and review, with respect to its operational and technological activities relating to delivery of product descriptions ? Consent to censure, $375,000 fine, and undertaking...

Oppenheimer & Co. Fined $1M By FINRA

2007-10-29T21:00:00-07:00

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. $1 million to settle charges it produced "flawed, incomplete and untimely data" in breakpoint self-assessment...

FINRA/NASD Dispute Resolution Statistics Released

2007-11-05T22:00:00-07:00

Summary Arbitration Statistics September 2007 New Case Filings through September: 2007 2006 2005 2007 Vs 2006 2,382 3,703 4,632 -36% Number of Cases Closed through September: 2007 2006 2005 2007 Vs 2006 4,075 5,589 7,026 -27% Turnaround Time* (in months) through September: 2007 2006 2005 2007 Vs 2006 Overall 13...

FINRA Reminds Member Firms Of Their Obligations Regarding Background Investigations Of Prospective Personnel

2007-11-14T22:00:00-07:00

A critical part of the hiring process in the securities industry is the background investigation of prospective personnel...

INVESTOR SUITABILITY AND THE APPLICATION OF MSRB RULES TO TRANSACTIONS IN AUCTION RATE SECURITIES

2008-03-05T22:00:00-07:00

Recent downgrades of municipal bond insurers and other short-term liquidity concerns have created extreme volatility in the market for municipal Auction Rate Securities...

Description Of Merrill Lynch?s Auction Rate Securities Practices And Procedures

2008-03-28T21:00:00-07:00

General Description of Auction Rate Securities Auction rate securities were first offered for sale in U...

Gunn Allen Fined $750,000 By FINRA

2008-05-07T21:00:00-07:00

GunnAllen Financial Inc. said it had reached ?closure? regarding a variety of compliance and regulatory issues with today?s announcement that Finra had fined the firm $750,000 for a number of violations, which dated from 2000 to 2005...

State Can Intervene, Object When Broker Seeks To Expunge Claim From Record

2008-07-21T21:00:00-07:00

Saying stockbrokers should be barred from hiding their mistakes, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler lauded a federal appeals court for allowing state regulators to intervene in malpractice settlements in an attempt to make sure the action stays on the broker?s national record...

FINRA Develops Public Arbitrator Pilot Program.

2008-07-24T21:00:00-07:00

In a superficical effort to avoid Congress enacting the Arbitration Fairness Act, in response to the perceived, if not actual, corruption of the arbitration process by FINRA, formerly known as the "National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc...

Wachovia Hit With $5.3 Million Award

2008-08-07T21:00:00-07:00

In a case allegedly involving stolen stock, Wachovia Securities LLC was hammered in a recent arbitration loss and ordered to pay clients $5...

Gary J. Gross, Former Axiom Capital Management, Inc. Broker, Charged For Defrauding Senior Citizens And Other Customers

2008-09-23T21:00:00-07:00

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former broker in South Florida who allegedly defrauded senior citizens and other customers through a variety of abusive sales practices, garnering him more than $700,000 in commissions and fees while causing more than $2...

Claims From The Risky Or Unsuitable Recommendation Of Wachovia, FannieMae, FreddieMac, Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers.

2008-10-07T21:00:00-07:00

PHILADELPHIA ? PA Nicholas J. Guiliano of the Guiliano Law Firm, P.C., in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (www...

LPL Sued For Financial Fraud. In An Affinity Fraud Case Involving Members Of A Local Church

2008-10-20T21:00:00-07:00

LPL Financial was sued last week in Phoenix for its role in an affinity fraud case involving members of a local church and an ex-broker who allegedly stole $5 million from at least 40 victims...

Stock Broker Arbitration Claims Up 49% From 2007.

2008-12-01T22:00:00-07:00

According to the latest figures from the Financial Industry RegulatoryAuthority (FINRA), through October 2008, investment arbitration claims areup 49% from 2007...

Obama Fails To End Kangaroo Courts For Investors: Susan Antilla

2009-06-28T21:00:00-07:00

Financial crises have a way of jolting investors into seeing that perhaps their brokers weren?t such trustworthy advisers after all...

SEC Charges Morgan Stanley And Former Adviser With Misleading Clients

2009-07-20T21:00:00-07:00

Washington, D.C., July 20, 2009 ? The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Morgan Stanley and one of the firm?s former investment adviser representatives with securities law violations for misleading clients about the money managers being recommended to them and failing to disclose conflicts of interest...

FINRA Fines Bank Broker Dealers $1.65 Million For Supervisory Failures In Variable Annuity, Mutual Fund And UIT Transactions

2009-08-20T21:00:00-07:00

FINRA Fines Bank Broker-Dealers $1.65 Million for Supervisory Failures in Variable Annuity, Mutual Fund and UIT Transactions Five Firms Sanctioned, One Charged with Unsuitable VA Sales to the Elderly Washington, D...

Finra Bars Ex Morgan Stanley Rep For Allegedly Bilking 97 Year Old?s Charity

2009-09-15T21:00:00-07:00

John Edward Mullins and wife allegedly drained their client?s trust while she was in a nursing home By Sue Asci September 15, 2009 A former Morgan Stanley broker was barred today by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc...

Investor Claims Against Stockbrokers For Fraud Continue To Soar.

2010-01-23T22:00:00-07:00

Securities arbitration results from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") Office of Dispute Resolution reporting the outcomes of customer initiated investment related arbitrations against stockbrokers and investment firms has been released for 2009...

Structured Notes Are Wall Streets Next Bubble

2010-08-09T21:00:00-07:00

The man who predicted in March 2007 the collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market now predicts that Wall Street banks are creating the next investment bubble by selling opaque and unregulated structured notes to investors hunting for yield...

Investment Analyst Fraud Continues At Morgan Stanley

2010-08-10T21:00:00-07:00

Following the 2003 Global Settlement with FINRA and the Securities & Exchange Commission, were Morgan Stanley paid $125 million in fines, disgorgement, and "procurement of Independent Research," it seems Morgan Stanley has been caught again publishing inaccurate and misleading investment research report, which fail to disclose Morgan Stanley?s financial interests, and conflicts of interest to customers with respect to the recommendation of securities...

Morgan Stanley Broker Charles Winitch Pleads Guilty To Fraud In Connection With The Management Of The Accounts Of Children Medical Malpractice Victims

2010-12-13T22:00:00-07:00

Just when you thought that you heard it all. The New York Stock Exchange disciplined former Morgan Stanley stockbroker Charles Winitch of Scarsdale, New York, for unauthorized trading, churning or excessive activity, and breach of fiduciary duty with respect to the accounts of his customers...

Wells Fargo Securities LLC And Wachovia Capital Markets LLC Fined $11.2 For Fraud In Connection With The Sale Of Collateralized Debt Obligations.

2011-04-05T21:00:00-07:00

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Wells Fargo Securities LLC consented to an $11...

FINRA Issues Cease & Desist, Suspends Pinnacle Partners For Boilerroom Operation

2011-04-24T21:00:00-07:00

Guiliano Law Firm Investigate Claims Against Graham Packaging Company, Inc. (NYSE: GRM)

2011-04-24T21:00:00-07:00

Current shareholders of Graham Packaging Company owning their shares prior to April 13, 2011 may have a claim concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law related to the Company?s entry into an agreement to be acquired by Silgan Holdings Inc...

Guiliano Law Firm Investigates Rural/Metro Corporation Sale To Warburg Pincus.

2011-04-24T21:00:00-07:00

Current shareholders of Rural/Metro who purchased shares before March 28, 2011 may have potential claims against the board of directors of Rural/Metro Corporation (NASDAQ: RURL) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law related to the Company?s agreement to be taken private by Warburg Pincus in a transaction valued at approximately $438...

Guiliano Law Firm Investigates Claims In Connection With TradeStation Group, Inc. Acquisition By Monex Group, Inc.

2011-04-24T21:00:00-07:00

Current shareholders of TradeStation Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRAD) may have potential claims against the board of directors of the company concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law related to the Company?s entry into an agreement to be acquired by Monex Group, Inc...

Guiliano Law Firm Investigates Claims Against SRA International, Inc. In Connection With Acquisition By Providence Equity Partners

2011-04-24T21:00:00-07:00

Shareholders purchasing SRA International (NYSE: SRX) shares prior to April 1, 2011 may have potential claims against the board of directors of the company concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law related to the company?s merger agreement to be taken private by Providence Equity Partners for $31...

Guiliano Law Firm Investigates Claims Against 99 Cents Only Stores, Inc.

2011-04-24T21:00:00-07:00

Shareholders purchasing 99 Cents Only Stores, Inc. (NYSE: NDN) shares prior to March 11, 2011 may have potential claims against the board of directors of the company concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of law related to the company?s acquisition by Leonard Green & Partners, L...

Guiliano Law Firm Investigates Claims In Connection With The Acquisition Of Tenent Healthcare Corporation By Community Health Care.

2011-04-24T21:00:00-07:00

Shareholders of of Tenent Healthcare Corporation may have potential claims related to the company?s acquisition by Community Health Care...

The Guiliano Law Firm Announces Filing Of Securities Arbitration Claims Before FINRA

2011-04-26T21:00:00-07:00

Philadelphia, PA ? The Guiliano Law Firm. P.C. has announced the filing of securities arbitration claims before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on behalf of investors suffering losses in Inverse and Leveraged Exchange Traded Funds or ETFs...

Regulators Propose Brokerage Firms Disclose Kickbacks From Mutual Fund Underwriters

2011-05-16T17:00:00-07:00

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, recently filed a proposed rule change with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission to to adopt NASD Rule 2830 (Investment Company Securities or mutual fund shares) as FINRA Rule 2341 (Investment Company Securities) with certain important changes...

All May Not Be Lost For Ponzi Scheme Investors.

2011-08-24T17:00:00-07:00

Welcome to the age of the Ponzi Scheme, the result of the non-regulation of "hedge funds." Madoff, Nagel, Stanford, Spitzer, the list goes on and on, millions, tens of billions of dollars swindled by Ponzi scheme scam operators, always, or at least most often leaving investors with nothing, except whatever meager sum the government may have seized, or that the Trustee seeks to collect in claw backs from other investors...

Will Investment Advisors Ever Be Really Regulated?

2011-09-14T17:00:00-07:00

The migration of stockbrokers into the advisory arena through the marketing of brokers as ¡®trusted advisers¡¯ and ¡®financial advisors¡¯ over the years has fueled confusion among investors as to the services provided by stockbrokers and investment advisers as well as the level of protection...

Brokers Who Failed To Fess Up About Debts To The Tax Authorities Are Hit With Fines And Suspensions.

2011-09-22T17:00:00-07:00

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA does not take kindly to stockbrokers who fail to disclose tax liens, perhaps because such behavior can signal untrustworthiness, the last thing you want to see in a stockbroker...

FINRA Arbitration Panel Weighs Overconcentration In FNMA Preferred Suitability Case

2011-10-18T17:00:00-07:00

On October 4, 2011, a FINRA Arbitration Panel sitting Portland, Oregon, in the matter of James D. Brogden, et...

Royal Alliance Associates Sues Ponzi Scheme Victims To Block Arbitrations; Attorneys For Victims Seek To Consolidate Cases

2012-02-04T11:13:45-07:00

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 4, 2012 (Globe Newswire) –Royal Alliance Associates, an AIG Advisor Group division owned by American International Group (NYSE: AIG), sued victims of a Ponzi scheme to block pending FINRA arbitration claims, where the victims have alleged that Royal Alliance Associates failed to supervise the sales agents who sold the fraudulent investments, says Sonn & Erez PLC, cocounsel for the victims...