Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS), which own the largest brokerage firms in the world, are declaring a cease-fire when it comes to using big bonuses to keep their own brokers and lure each other’s brokers away. Bank of America Corp. owns Merrill Lynch (MER). After payments…
According to Investment News, along with the much publicized-UBS Puerto Rican Bond Funds, the municipal bond funds of OppenheimerFunds appear to have also been hit by Puerto Rico’s financial problems. The Oppenheimer Rochester Virginia Municipal Bond Fund (ORVAX), valued at $125 million, is down by over 15%, which places it…
The SSEK Partners Group is investigating claims by investors who bought Puerto Rico municipal bonds from UBS (UBS), Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Banco Popular and other brokerage firms. We are also looking into claims involving other muni funds that have been exposed to Puerto Rico, including the: • Franklin Double Tax-Free…
In a case preceding the credit crisis, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel has awarded Michael Farah, an ex-star broker at Wedbush Securities Inc, a $4.2M arbitration award against the brokerage firm. Farah had accused the broker-dealer of making misrepresentations and omissions related to the collateralized-mortgage-obligation investments he recommended to…
As the value of proprietary closed-end bond funds invested created by a UBS AG unit (UBS) in Puerto Rico continue to drop, the financial firm and its 132 financial advisers find themselves facing what is expected to be a protracted legal battle with local investors who want their money back.…
Now that US Attorney General Eric Holder has turned down JPMorgan Chase’s (JPM) offer to settle criminal and civil charges related a mortgage-backed securities probe, the financial firm is looking at a settlement of possibly $11 billion. The financial figure has gone up as talks have expanded to include additional…
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is looking into JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s (JPM) debt collection practices over how the bank gets payments from borrowers that are delinquent. Coakley’s probe is separate from the one being conducted by a group of 13 states. According to JPMorgan, the bank stopped suing over…
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) has agreed to pay a $920 million fine to resolve securities fraud investigations conducted by the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Financial Conduct Authority in London. The probes were related to the multibillion-dollar trading losses…
Citigroup Inc. (C) now has to pay Dr. Nasirdin Madhany and Zeenat Madhany $3.1 million over claims that the financial firm failed to properly supervise a broker, which caused the couple to sustain over $1 million losses. The broker is accused of directing them to invest in real estate developments…
According to a source knowledgeable about negotiations, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) could pay at $800 million in penalties in the investigations conducted by regulators over the “London Whale” trading scandal. The regulators are the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the British Financial Conduct Authority, and the US…