Just as the Department of Labor appeared poised to push out its proposal to impose a fiduciary standard on retirement advisers, financial industry members have once more stepped forward to try to implement certain changes. Last month, financial industry trade groups met with White House aide Valerie Jarrett to express…
Investor Lawyers Blog
JPMorgan Sued by Indiana Church
The Christ Church Cathedral of Indianapolis is suing JPMorgan (JPM) for securities fraud. The church contends that the financial firm purposely mismanaged its money over the last ten years, causing $13 million in losses. Eli Lilly, the founder of pharmaceutical giant of the same name, gifted a large trust fund…
California Insider Trading Ring Made Almost $750K in Illegal Profits, Says the SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission says that former Barclays Capital (ADR) analyst John Gray, his friends Christian Keller and Kyle Martin, and Aaron Shephard committed California insider trading, making close to $750K in illegal profits. They did this by allegedly trading right before four corporate news announcements were made. To…
Hedge Fund Fraud Leads to Criminal Convictions
Francisco Illarramendi has been sentenced to 13 years behind bars for a Connecticut securities scam that involved hundreds of millions of dollars from the state oil company of Venezuela. The 45-year-old ex-hedge fund manager said he committed the crimes to conceal investment losses and because he was pressured by corrupt…
UBS Under Scrutiny in New Tax Evasion Probe
U.S. prosecutors have opened a new investigation into whether UBS AG (UBS) helped Americans avoid paying taxes via investments that were banned in the country. The government is looking at whether the Swiss bank used bearer securities, which may be used as if they were cash. These securities were phased…
Standard & Poor’s Settles Inflated Ratings Case for $1.5 Billion
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s will pay $1.5 billion to settle a number of lawsuits accusing the company of inflating the ratings of mortgage securities in the lead up to the 2008 economic crisis. As part of the deal, S & P’s parent company McGraw Hill will pay $687.5…
Sun Antonio Spurs Star Tim Duncan Files Texas Investment Adviser Fraud Case
NBA All-Star Tim Duncan is suing his investment adviser for securities fraud. The San Antonio Spurs basketball player says that his financial representative, Charles Banks, made investment recommendations based on conflicts of interest. Duncan claims that because of this he sustained substantial financial losses. According to one source, the NBA…
DOJ Gets Ready to Wrap Mortgage Bond Case Against Standard & Poor’s, Probes Moody’s
According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Justice has been meeting with ex-Moody’s Investor Service (MCO) executives to talk about the way the credit ratings agency rated complex securities prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Sources say that the probe is still in its early stages and…
PFS Investments, Ex-Broker Under Investigation for Securities Fraud that Bilked At Least Twenty Customers
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is accusing former broker Barkley Lundy, who worked with PFS Investments, of defrauding at least 20 customers. The self-regulatory organization claims that from at least 1/11 through 3/14, Lundy took these clients’ funds and placed the money in his own bank accounts. He also purportedly…
Libor Manipulation Cases Get the Green Light from U.S. Courts
The U.S. Supreme Court says that bond buyers cannot be made to wait to appeal a decision tossing out their antitrust claims over alleged Libor interest manipulation. The nation’s highest court overturned a ruling that favored Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Barclays PLC (BARC ), Royal Bank of Scotland Group…