Corporate & Securities Law

SNSFE Continues To Investigate Complaints Against Reserve Management Funds

Posted on October 22, 2008
Massachusetts securities regulators have begun to probe complaints against Reserve Management Company, the New York asset manager that shook investors in September with news of a money-market fund loss. The office of Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has...

SNSFE Helping AIG Financial Advisors, FSC Securities and Royal Alliance Reps in Transitioning to Other Financial Services Firms In View of Announced Sales of Units

Posted on October 21, 2008
AIG Advisor Group is assiduously trying to convince financial advisers to stay in their seats while the firm's parent - American International Group Inc. of New York - attempts to find a buyer for three broker-dealers. Last Monday, during a...

SNSFE Helping AIG Financial Advisors, FSC Securities and Royal Alliance Reps in Transitioning to Other Financial Services Firms In View of Announced Sales of Units

Posted on October 21, 2008
AIG Advisor Group is assiduously trying to convince financial advisers to stay in their seats while the firm's parent - American International Group Inc. of New York - attempts to find a buyer for three broker-dealers. Last Monday, during a...

Regulators Offer Guidance To Improve Policies And Procedures To Protect Senior Investors

Posted on October 08, 2008
State and federal securities regulators, along with FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), recently emphasized that the protection of senior investors is "a top priority." The regulators have issued a report, entitled, "Protecting Senior Investors: Compliance, Supervisory and Other Practices...

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Regulator's First Enforcement Action Relating To Mortgage-Backed Securities Is Just The Beginning

Posted on September 30, 2008
The recent enforcement action by FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) against two brokers from a now defunct small brokerage firm normally might have come and gone with little fanfare. But this action, which FINRA itself headlined, ?First Enforcement Action...

SNSFE Investigating Funds And Other Investment Vehicles That Heavily Invested In Beaten-Down Fannie, Freddie, Lehman, AIG And Merrill

Posted on September 26, 2008
Investors owning shares in mutual funds ought to know what their exposure is to Fannie and Freddie. According to MorningstarAdvisor report published recently, the top firms holding Fannie and Freddie are Fidelity Select Home, Touchstone, Morgan Stanley Financial Services and...

SNSFE Investigating Losses At Reserve Primary Fund

Posted on September 25, 2008
Attorneys at SNSFE are investigating the Reserve Primary Fund. According to Wall Street Journal reports, more than a year before the Reserve Primary Fund "broke the buck" with losses that spread chaos through the financial system last week, the fund....

Any Takers?

Posted on September 24, 2008
Friends, I want to take more risk in my law practice. After all, risk is good; the higher the risk, the higher the reward. But, I fear that I may fail. That's too bad, because the more risk I take,...

Any Takers?

Posted on September 24, 2008
Friends, I want to take more risk in my law practice. After all, risk is good; the higher the risk, the higher the reward. But, I fear that I may fail. That's too bad, because the more risk I take,...

Regulator Provides Guidance For Weathering Tough Financial Times

Posted on September 09, 2008
FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has issued guidance to Americans who may feel pressured to make poor financial decisions in order to raise cash to meet short-term needs. Entitled, "Weathering Tough Financial Times - The Long-term Costs of Quick...

UBS Securities Continues To Face Problems Subsequent To The ARS Settlement Announcement With Attorney General Cuomo

Posted on August 21, 2008
Subsequent to the filing of the New York Attorney General's complaint against UBS Securities, UBS Securities reached a settlement with Attorney General Cuomo. In this settlement, UBS has agreed to return over $11 billion to investors across New York state...

New York Attorney General's Complaint Against UBS Securities Seeking Relief For Auction Rate Securities Purchasers Nationwide

Posted on August 20, 2008
Following on the heels of a similar complaint filed by Massachusetts securities regulators, New York Attorney General Cuomo?s complaint against UBS Securities and UBS Financial Services (?UBS? collectively) alleges that UBS deceived its customers, its own financial advisors and the...

SEC Charges Chicago Firm Wextrust Capital With Fraud

Posted on August 15, 2008
Two owners of a private equity firm that claimed to be profiting from investments ranging from real estate to diamond mines were arrested and charged with robbing more than $100 million from investors, many of them Orthodox Jews. In a...

Ameriprise To Buy H&R Block Financial Advisory Unit

Posted on August 14, 2008
Ameriprise Financial, the wealth management firm spun off by American Express, will buy H&R Block's financial advisory service for $315 million to expand in Florida, Texas and California. Ameriprise expects the transaction to be completed within six months and start...

SEC Charges Chicago Firm Wextrust Capital With Fraud

Posted on August 14, 2008
Two owners of a private equity firm that claimed to be profiting from investments ranging from real estate to diamond mines were arrested and charged with robbing more than $100 million from investors, many of them Orthodox Jews. In a...

Special Alert: UBS Agrees To A BuyBack To Settle ARS Claims On The Heals Of Citigroup And Merrill Lynch Settlements

Posted on August 08, 2008
According to news sources, UBS has agreed to a $19.4 billion buyback to settle charges it misled investors to buy risky bonds says the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office. The agreement has been reached between UBS Financial Services Inc. and...

Special Alert to Citigroup Retail Investors Holding Illiquid Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on August 07, 2008
New York Attorney General Cuomo announced today a landmark settlement with Citigroup to recover billions in auction-rate securities for investors nationwide. According to the press release issued today, Citigroup has agreed to buy back, no later than November 5, 2008,...

Securities Regulator Proposes To Improve The Accuracy Of Communications Regarding Variable Insurance Products

Posted on August 07, 2008
FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has filed Regulatory Notice 08-39 for public comment. Among other things, FINRA proposes to improve the manner in which variable insurance products are advertised, particularly with regard to guarantees and riders, performance illustrations and...

Massachusetts Securities Regulator Sues Merrill Lynch Over Auction-Rate Securities As SNSFE Continues To Counsel Investors

Posted on August 04, 2008
The Massachusetts securities regulator has accused Merrill Lynch of defrauding auction-rate investors. According to Bloomberg: Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin accused Merrill Lynch & Co. of fraud, claiming the investment bank sold auction-rate securities to investors while misleading them...

Morningstar Alerts Investors To 7 Bear Market Horror Story Mutual Funds

Posted on July 31, 2008
In a recent Morningstar article, author Russel Kinnel discusses seven mutual fund bear-market horror stories. He briefly mentions the hard-hit Legg Mason Value Fund LMVTX, as well as Schwab YieldPlus SWYPX and Regions Morgan Keegan, as those stories have been...

New York Attorney General's Complaint Against UBS Concerning Auction-Rate Securities Is the Second Of Two Bazooka Blasts Destroying Whatever Credibility UBS Has Left

Posted on July 24, 2008
New York Attorney General Cuomo?s complaint against UBS is the second of two (so far) bazooka blasts destroying whatever credibility UBS has left among its retail and institutional customers, its own financial advisers, and the issuers of auction-rate securities (ARS)...

Survey Shows That Corporate Purchasers Of Auction-Rate Securities State That Dealer Support Of Auctions Either Was Implied Or Expressly Stated, Despite Ultimate Demise Of Auction Markets

Posted on July 24, 2008
Recently, the Financial Times discussed an interesting aspect of the auction-rate securities debacle. In an article entitled, "Auction-Rate Securities 'Implied Support', Joanna Chung discussed what investors thought they were buying. She stated: The vast majority of investors in some of...

SEC Proposes Changing The Rules To Better Protect Purchasers Of Equity Indexed Annuities

Posted on July 17, 2008
Recently, The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published for public comment its proposed new rule aimed at protecting investors, especially senior investors, against the abuses associated with the marketing and sale of equity indexed annuities...

Regulator's Complaint Against UBS Securities Exposes Significant Conflicts Of Interest And Omissions In The Sale Of Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on July 09, 2008
On June 26th, Massachusetts securities regulators sued UBS Securities and UBS Financial Services for their role in the auction-rate securities ("ARS") debacle that has plagued not only UBS but several other financial services firms. In addition to other relief, the...

Criminal Prosecutors Investigate Two Former Credit Suisse Brokers For Misleading Investors In Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on July 09, 2008
Federal prosecutors, ramping up criminal probes stemming from the credit crunch, are investigating whether two former Credit Suisse Group brokers lied to investors about how they placed their money into short-term securities. At issue is the $330 billion market for...

Securities Regulator Highlights Examination Priorities To Protect Investors

Posted on July 08, 2008
FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has issued its publication, ?Improving Examination Results? to highlight ?examination priorities?. Many of the examination priorities relate to investor protection issues, including guidance regarding the recommendation of, and required risk disclosures for, purchases of...

SEC Proposes To Broaden Investor Protection For Those Being Sold Equity Indexed Annuities

Posted on July 03, 2008
The Securities and Exchange Commission has published for public comment a proposed new rule that would protect seniors and other investors from fraudulent and abusive practices in the sale of equity indexed annuities. Equity indexed annuities are often sold to...

SEC, FBI And SNSFE Step Up Investigations Relating To Subprime-Mortgage Crisis

Posted on July 03, 2008
The SEC's docket of probes stemming from the subprime-mortgage crisis has grown at least 40 percent since January amid mounting investor losses and the collapse of Bear Stearns. The SEC has more than 50 open inquiries relating to the credit-market...

SNSFE Investigates Evergreen Ultra Short Opportunities Fund

Posted on July 02, 2008
SNSFE is investigating mutual fund losses sustained in the Evergreen Ultra Short Opportunities Fund. SNSFE is investigating Wachovia's solicitation of thousands of investors to invest in the firm's proprietary bond funds. These funds were sold as Class A,B,C, and I...

UBS Schemed To Defaud Unsuspecting Investors So As To Unload Its Auction-Rate Securities Inventory, According To Complaint Filed By Massachusetts Securities Regulator

Posted on July 01, 2008
UBS e-mails show conflicts with auction-rate clients. UBS was attempting to liquidate an $11 billion "albatross" of auction-rate bonds by selling the debt to individual investors as the market for the securities started to collapse, according to company e-mails...

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