A FINRA arbitration panel has ordered Wells Fargo Advisors LLC (WFC) to pay UBS Financial Services Inc. $1.1M to resolve a claim involving financial adviser David Kinnear who went to work for the Wells Fargo & Co. brokerage arm after leaving the UBS Group AG (UBS) unit. UBS claims that…
Houston Pension Fund Accuses Bank of Fraud In the U.S. District Court Southern District of California, the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System has filed a securities fraud case against Bofl Holding (BOFI) Inc. The pension fund claims that the bank employed illegal lending practices and depended on off-balance-sheet entities to…
Investors and HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC) and HSBC Bank PLC have settled two proposed anti- trust class action lawsuits accusing the banks of fixing yen-denominated Libor rates. The first lawsuit, which was filed in 2012, contends that lead plaintiff Jeffrey Laydon lost thousands of dollars in 2006 while shorting derivatives…
After nearly twenty years, Oppenheimer (OPY) is liquidating its Commodity Strategy Total Return Fund (QRAAX) in mid-July. The reason for the shut down is underperformance. According to the company’s website, the Oppenheimer Commodity Strategy Total Return Fund lost 49% since it was created in 1997, and average yearly returns have…
1st Circuit Reinstates Lawsuit Against Moody’s The First Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated the $5.9 billion residential mortgage-backed securities fraud case brought by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston against Moody’s Investor’s Service, Inc. and Moody’s Corp. The bank claims that the credit rating agency knowingly issued false…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging John Galanis, his son Jason Galanis, and five other people with fraud involving a multimillion-dollar tribal bonds scam. The SEC claims that Jason ran the scheme to obtain a “source of discretionary liquidity.” He and his father allegedly persuaded a Native American…
A U.S. district court judge has approved a settlement reached at the end of last year between JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and pension funds related to trades made by Bruno Iksil, who earned the nickname “London Whale” because of his huge market-moving positions in credit derivatives. In their class…
A sharp drop in the stock of SandRidge Energy Inc. (SDOC) has led to catastrophic losses of more than $7 billion for investors. Just last week, SandRidge Energy shares traded down at 3.8%, dropping to $0.0654. More than 2.3 million shares of the stock were exchanged. According to DailyPolitical, SandRidge…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is filing fraud charges against Louis Martin Blazer III, a Pittsburgh-based financial adviser. Blazer founded Blazer Capital Management—a firm that works with high-net worth individual clients and professional athletes. He allegedly took money out of the accounts of these athletes without their permission so…
Texas Oil and Gas Ponzi Scam Leads to 13-Year Prison Term The owner of RHM Exploration has been sentenced to over 13 years months behind bars for a Texas oil and gas Ponzi scam that raised about $4.5M from investors. William Risinger must pay more than $3.7M to those whom…