UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico (UBS) has agreed to pay $26.6 million to settle the Securities and Exchange Commission administrative action accusing the financial firm of misleading investors about its control and liquidity over the secondary market for nearly two dozen proprietary closed-end mutual funds. By settling, UBS…
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has revived the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s fraud lawsuit against Morgan Keegan & Co. accusing the financial firm of allegedly misleading investors about auction-rate securities. The federal appeals court said that a district judge was in error when he found that alleged…
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), UBS AG (UBSN), Morgan Stanley (MS), and Citigroup Inc. (C) have consented to pay a combined $9.1 million to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claims that they did not adequately supervise the sale of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds in 2008 and 2009. $7.3 million…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing optionsXpress, a Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) subsidiary, of being involved in a naked short selling scheme between 2008 and 2010. The SEC filed an administrative order against the online futures and options brokerage and clearing agency, its CEO, and a client while settling…
Metlife (MET) is suing Morgan Stanley (MS) for securities fraud. According to Bloomberg, the insurance company bought over $757 million in residential mortgage-backed securities from the financial firm in 2006 and 2007. In the institutional investment fraud lawsuit, Morgan Stanley had vouched that the properties behind the loans were “accurately…
Ralph Edward Thomas Jr., a former broker has been permanently barred from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Thomas, who misappropriated money from three clients, including a child suffering from cerebral palsy, has been sentenced to a prison term of four years. He also must pay $836,000 in restitution. According to…
In a default decision, San Antonio broker-dealer Pinnacle Partners Financial, Corp. has been expelled by a FINRA hearing officer for Texas securities fraud. The company’s president Brian Alfaro has also been barred. The financial firm and its head are accused of running a boiler room, engaging in the fraudulent selling…
Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) and Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) are calling on the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to crack down on excessive energy market speculation. They believe that this type of speculation on oil that is “based on world events” is “abusive” and has been creating difficulties for Americans. In…
The Federal Reserve Board has ordered Morgan Stanley (MS) to retain an independent consultant to evaluate foreclosures initiated by former subsidiary Saxon Mortgage Services in 2009 and 2010. Saxon, which intends to shut down its processing center in Forth Worth, is accused of engaging in a “pattern of misconduct and…
The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations has put out an alert reminding broker-dealers about what their supervisory and due diligence duties are when it comes to underwriting municipal securities offerings. According to the examination staff, there are financial firms that are not maintaining enough written evidence to show…