The Securities and Exchange Commission says Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) set up a fee arrangement that charged a fund (as well as its investors) for services that they weren’t actually getting from another party. MSIM has agreed to pay over $3.3M to settle the charges that it violated securities…
Articles Posted in Financial Firms
MF Global Holdings Clients Unable to Access Their Money Following Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
The Wall Street Journal reports that in the wake of MF Global Holdings Ltd. filing for bankruptcy protection, about 33,000 of the securities firm’s clients are finding that they can’t access their cash until trustee James Giddens gives them permission. Giddens is the trustee overseeing the liquidation of MF Global…
UBS Settles for $8M SEC Charges Over the Inaccurate Recordkeeping of Short Sales
Less than a month after UBS Securities, LLC agreed to pay $12M to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claims of supervisory failures and violating regulation SHO in securities short sales, the broker-dealer has now consented to an $8M penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges over poor recordkeeping related…
Citigroup’s $285M Mortgage-Related CDO Settlement with Raises Concerns About SEC’s Enforcement Practices for Judge Rakoff
In Federal District Court today, Judge Jed S. Rakoff expressed concerns about the $285M securities settlement that Citigroup had reached with the Securities Exchange Commission. The financial firm was accused selling $1B in high-risk mortgage-linked collateralized debt obligation that it allegedly knew were at risk of failing. A federal judge…
Dblaine Capital, LLC Faces SEC Securities Fraud Charges
The SEC is charging Dblaine Capital, LLC and owner David B. Welliver with securities fraud. According to its complaint, Welliver and the investment advisory firm got $4m in loans as a result of a quid pro quo deal that was undisclosed, improper, and violated their responsibilities to the fund. In…
MF Global Holdings Ltd. Files for Bankruptcy While Its Broker-Dealer Faces Liquidation and Securities Lawsuit by SIPC
In U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, MF Global Holdings Ltd. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The holding company for broker-dealer MF Global Inc., which faces liquidation, has listed assets of $41 billion and debt of $39.7 billion. This is the fifth-largest financial industry public company bankruptcy when measured according…
Retirement Fund’s CDO Lawsuit Against Morgan Stanley is Dismissed by District Court
A district court judge has dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit filed by the Employees’ Retirement System of the Government of the Virgin Islands against Morgan Stanley (MS). The investor complaint, submitted in 2009, accused the financial firm of defrauding investors. The pension fund had purchased the notes as part of…
Ex-Goldman Sachs Director Rajat Gupta Pleads Not Guilty to Insider Trading Charges
After surrendering to federal authorities today, Rajat Gupta has entered a not guilty plea to the criminal charges against him involving insider trading. Gupta, who was a former Proctor and Gamble and Goldman Sachs director, is accused of multiple counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit…
UBS Fined $12M for Supervisory Failures and Regulation SHO Violations in Securities Short Sales
UBS Securities has agreed to pay FINRA a $12 million fine over violations that led to millions of short sale orders of securities being mismarked or entered into the market even though there was no reasonable basis for thinking that they could be delivered or borrowed. FINRA says that UBS…
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Sues Two Saudi Investors in an Attempt to Block Their FINRA Arbitration Claim Over $383M in Losses
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (C) is suing Abdullah and Ghazi Abbar. The Saudi investors have filed a FINRA arbitration claim against the Citigroup unit seeking to recover the $383 million that they say the bank lost their family’s money. The Abbars, who are father and son, are accusing Citigroup Global…