In a subpoena enforcement action, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is ordering 235 LLCs in Colorado and Delaware to provide documents related to its probe into whether Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC, a California-based real estate and investment company owned and run by its president Robert Shapiro, engaged in…
According to The Wall Street Journal, Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN), has sold hundreds of millions of dollars of Puerto Rico bonds in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Maria. This includes Franklin Mutual Advisers LLC’s decision to sell its $294 million stake in the U.S. territory’s general obligation bonds.…
Deutsche Bank AG (DB) has settled with 45 US states and will now pay $220M to resolve allegations that it engaged in rigging the London Interbank Offered (LIBOR) rate and other benchmark interest rates. According to the settlement, the bank admitted that its managers and traders took part in benchmark…
A federal jury in New York has found Mark Johnson guilty on criminal charges accusing him of front-running involving a $3.5B currency trade. HSBC’s ex-foreign-exchange cash trading global head is the first banker that the US Justice Department charged over forex rate rigging. Johnson was convicted on eight counts of…
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Galvin has filed civil fraud charges against Moser Capital Management and investment adviser Nicklaus J. Moser. Galvin’s office is accusing Moser and his firm of fraud involving two venture capital funds: the Moser Capital Fund, LLC and the Moser Capital Fund II, LLC.…
The financial fallout caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria is being felt not just on the island of Puerto Rico, but in the U.S. mainland as well. Puerto Rico bonds, which were already in trouble prior to the storms because of the island’s faltering economy and bankruptcy, are expected to…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against investment adviser Tarek D. Bahgat for allegedly stealing $378K from clients. Bahgat is accused of misappropriating funds from seven investment advisory clients, most of whom were elderly investors. According to the regulator, from December 2014 through September 2016, Bahgat, using…
Deutsche Bank AG (DB) has consented to pay $190M to resolve an investor fraud lawsuit accusing the German lender of manipulating prices in the foreign exchange market. Despite settling, however, the bank maintains that it did not engage in wrongdoing. Investors accused Deutsche bank and 15 other banks of conspiring…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against Michael Scronic, a New York-based investment adviser accused of defrauding retail investors in a $19M Ponzi scam. According to the regulator, beginning in 2010, Scronic raised funds from 42 friends and acquaintances for a “risky options trading strategy” involving…
In New York, a federal judge has approved a $31M shareholder fraud settlement reached in the class action securities case filed by investors that purchased stock in former broker-dealer RCS Capital. The plaintiffs, including lead plaintiffs the City of Providence, Rhode Island and the Oklahoma Police Pension Fund, had sued…