The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against eleven ex-Superior Bank executives and board members. The regulator says that the bankers took part in numerous scams to hide just how bad the loan losses were at the bank after the financial crisis struck. Nine of the individuals…
The SEC said that State Street Bank and Trust Company will pay $12M to resolve civil charges accusing the firm of involvement in a pay-to-play scam. The regulator is accusing State Street of trying to gain contracts so it could do business with Ohio pension funds. Vincent Debaggis, who helmed…
Ohio Financial Adviser is Indicted in $15M Securities Fraud Evolution Partners Wealth Management owner Larry Werbel has been indicted on criminal charges accusing him of involvement in a securities scam to bilk at least 100 investor of over $15M. Werbel recruited investors for shares of VgTel Inc. He and other…
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) has consented to pay approximately $5.1B to resolve a government investigation into the way it dealt with mortgage-backed securities leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. The settlement was reached in principal with the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group of the U.S. Financial Fraud Enforcement…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claims that Caldwell International Securities Corp. engaged in the churning of customer accounts and that this purportedly resulted in $1 million in excess commissions for the firm. The self-regulatory organization says that the alleged violations began in 2011. According to FINRA, the Texas-based company’s founder…
Wrapping up its case, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office accused former ICAP (IAP) brokers Danny Wilkinson, Darrell Read, and Colin Goodman, ex-Tullet Prebon employee Noel Cryan, and ex-RP Martin brokers Terry Farr and James Gilmour of behaving like a “well-oiled machine” as they allegedly helped former Citi (C) and UBS…
Reuters is reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the possible liquidity risks involved in high-yield bond funds. The probe comes following the collapse of the Third Avenue’s Focused Credit Fund (TFCVX) in early December. That has been touted as the largest mutual fund failure since the financial…
Municipal bond insurance companies Ambac Assurance Corp. (Ambac) and Assured Guaranty Corp. (Assured) are suing Puerto Rico in the wake of its failure to make $37 million in bond payments that were due on January 1. The U.S territory defaulted on paying certain bonds in order to have the funds…
William Galvin, the securities regulator of the state of Massachusetts, has filed charges against Citizens Securities for purportedly selling an older investor funds that were too high risk for her investment tolerance level. He wants restitution for the investor, who lost approximately $7,000. Citizens Securities operates out of Citizen Bank…
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management has put out a guidance on its website cautioning mutual fund directors to more closely scrutinize the money that is paid to brokers and certain other intermediaries. The warning comes following a sweep exam, which found that fees that should be…