According to The Wall Street Journal, it’s just been a week since regulators approved the Volcker Rule and already investors and financial institutions are looking for new ways to finance municipal bond investments. The Volcker rule limits how much risk federally insured depository institutions can take, prohibiting proprietary trading, setting…
The Securities and Exchange Commission says that Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. (MER) will pay $131.8M to settle charges involving allegedly faulty derivatives disclosures. The regulator claims that the firm, which is the largest broker-dealer by client assets, misled investors about certain structured debt products before the economic…
One day after Moody’s Investor Service placed Puerto Rico’s general obligation bonds rating of Baa3 on review for downgrade to junk status, the credit rating agency affirmed the ratings it had earlier in the year given four banks: Banco Santander Puerto Rico, Popular Inc. and its subsidiaries, FirstBank Puerto Rico,…
Fannie Mae is suing nine banks over their alleged collusion in manipulating interest rates involving the London Interbank Offered Rate. The defendants are Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Credit Suisse, UBS (UBS), Deutsche Bank (DB), Citigroup (C), Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, & Rabobank. The US government controlled-mortgage…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. (OPY) must pay a $675,000 fine purportedly charging customers unfair prices in municipal securities transactions and not having a proper supervisory system in place to detect such activities. The firm must pay $246,000 in restitution, in addition to interest, to…
In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York panel has decided that three ex-General Electric Co. bankers charged with conspiring to bilk cities in a muni bond bid rigging scam can go free because the US government waited too long to prosecute them. Reversing last…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. says that J.P. Turner & Co. has to pay restitution of $707,559 to 84 clients over the sale of inverse and leveraged ETFs that were unsuitable for them, as well as for excessive mutual fund switches. The SRO says that the broker-dealer did not…
Five regulatory agencies in the US have voted to approve the Volcker Rule. The measure establishes new hurdles for banks that engage in market timing and will limit compensation arrangements that previously provided incentive for high risk trading. While the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation voted…
According to The Wall Street Journal, Puerto Rico has been engaging in a budget-stretching maneuver, known as the “scoop & toss” for some time now. The tactic, which has been employed by financially strapped local governments, including states, municipalities and other entities for years, is now under closer examination. Scoop…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at whether proxy advisers have become so influential when it comes to corporate elections that rules should be imposed in them to create greater transparency. At a recent SEC-hosted meeting, brokers, institutional investors, business groups, and unions debated about the role that…