After a federal jury convicted Gary Lynn McDuff of conspiring to defraud investors, a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas judge sentenced the 58-year-old to 25 years behind bar for the $11 million investment scam. McDuff’s co-conspirators, Robert Reese and Gary Lancaster, had both pleaded guilty-Reese has…
A number of pension funds in the US are suing BP (BP) for fraud. The institutional investors, including funds for public workers in Texas, Louisiana, and Maryland, and Bank of America’s (BAC) private pension plan, claim, that the corporation bilked them when it made misstatements about the Deepwater Horizon oil…
A number brokerage firms, including Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, LPL Financial (LPLA), and Stifel Nicolaus (SF) have responded to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request for comments about FINRA-proposed rule about broker compensation. Proposed rule 2243 would require greater disclosure about the financial incentives that is offered to representatives who…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a financial fraud case against Total Wealth Management Inc., an investment advisory firm based in Southern California. The regulator is accusing the firm of getting undisclosed kickbacks over investments recommended to clients. It is also alleging breach of fiduciary duty. According to the…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against TelexFree Inc. and TelexFree LLC over an alleged Pyramid scam that targeted immigrants-those from Brazil and the Dominican Republic, in particular. The agency sought and was able to obtain an asset freeze, securing millions of dollars. Also facing charges…
Barclays (BARC) has just settled two Libor-related securities cases alleging mis-selling related to Libor. In the first lawsuit, filed by Guardian Care Homes over interest swaps worth £70M that were linked to the benchmark interest rate, Barclays has agreed to restructure a loan for the home care operator. The bank…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is finally beginning to scrutinize municipal bond issuers. Recent efforts include the opening of investigations into whether certain municipalities misled investors about their financial well-being before they made their bonds available to them. The SEC’s municipal-bond enforcement unit is searching for occurrences involving “tension”…
According to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority CEO Richard G. Ketchum, the regulator no longer wants to be given oversight over financial advisers. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Ketchum said the self-regulatory agency had done all it could to be granted authority over investment advisers and has decided to stop…
U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain has approved the criminal settlement reached between the US Department of Justice and SAC Capital Advisors LP. The hedge fund, which was founded by Steven A. Cohen, consented to pay a $1.8 billion penalty and plead guilty to insider trading charges that resulted in…
According to The Wall Street Journal, a number of large hedge funds and other nontraditional buyers got involved in Puerto Rico debt last month during the US Territory’s $3.5B bond sale, buying up to 70% of the deal. Brigade Capital Management, Och-Ziff Capital Management (OZM) LLC, Perry Capital LLC, Paulson…