Morgan Stanley Accuses Ex-Broker, Now With Ameriprise, of Trying to Take Clients Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is suing one of its ex-brokers, John McCallion, who is now with Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP). The wirehouse claims that McCallion went into Morgan Stanley’s (MS) computer system before leaving the firm and changed…
Articles Posted in Financial Firms
Morgan Stanley, DOJ Arrive at $2.6B Mortgage Bond Settlement
Morgan Stanley (MS) has reached an agreement in principal with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve claims related to its sale of mortgage bonds. The government probe looked into allegations that the financial firm misrepresented the quality of home loans that were packaged into bonds. The broker-dealer, however, still…
DOJ Investigating UBS Over Losses Related To Firm’s V10 Enhanced FX Carry Strategy
UBS Group AG (UBS) is under scrutiny over losses related to its V10 Enhanced FX Carry Strategy. The complex financial product was sold to fund managers, businesses, and individual investors and touted as a high-yielding foreign-exchange investment that employed computer algorithms to reduce risks during volatile times. Unfortunately, according to…
New Details Accusing HSBC of Aiding Tax Evaders Emerge
New information regarding HSBC Holdings PLC’s (HSBC) history of aiding tax evaders has been released by ex-employee Hervé Falciani to a number of media outlet, as well as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The data alleges that the bank kept secret accounts for a number of wealthy, celebrity, and/or…
SEC Commissioners Oppose Regulator’s Leniency Toward Oppenheimer, Despite Violations
SEC Commissioners Luis Aguilar and Kara Stein, both Democrats, say that they were among those that voted to grant Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) special benefits even after the brokerage firm committed rules violations. It was just last month that the broker-dealer consented to pay a $20 million penalty while admitting…
Bank of America Used Subsidiary to Finance Trades, Helped Hedge Funds, Others, Avoid Taxes
According to The Wall Street Journal, internal documents show that Bank of America Corp. (BAC) used its Bank of America National Association, a subsidiary backed by the U.S. government, to finance controversial trades that allowed certain clients to get around paying taxes. A bank spokesperson said that the practice, which…
U.S. Department of Justice Wants Citigroup, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, and Royal Bank of Scotland to Plead Guilty to Criminal Charges In Currency Antitrust Investigation
According to The Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department is going to try to make four big banks plead guilty to criminal anti-trust charges related to its traders’ alleged collusion in foreign-currency markets. The financial institutions are Citigroup Inc. (C), Barclays PLC (BARC), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), and J.P.…
John Carris Investments Expelled by FINRA
A FINRA panel has expelled John Carris Investments LLC, along with Chief Executive Officer George Carris from the securities industry. Bot are accused of suitability violations and fraud. According to the panel, Carris and JCI were reckless when selling shares of stock and promissory notes. They purportedly left out material…
UBS Financial Puerto Rico’s Chairman Told Brokers to Sell More Bond Funds in 2011
Reuters is reporting that in 2011, before the prices of UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico’s (UBS) proprietary bond funds dropped, the firm’s chairman, Miguel Ferrer, told brokers to either start selling more UBS Puerto Rico bond funds or find a new job. He spoke after the brokerage firm’s…
J.P. Morgan Under Scrutiny Over China Hirings
According to The Wall Street Journal, U.S. prosecutors and regulators are probing the Asian hiring practices of J.P. Morgan (JPM) and a number of other banks. The probe focuses on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which is a U.S. law that prohibits giving anything of value to foreign government officials…