The current quagmire of UBS Puerto Rico offloading billions of dollars in speculative Puerto Rico bonds onto its unsuspecting clients is by no means a new or limited occurrence for UBS. UBS has a history of taking huge gambles and often passing the bad bets onto its clients. Between 2002…
Investor Lawyers Blog
Ex-UBS Global Wealth Chief Exposed by Whistleblower Pleads Not Guilty To Tax Fraud Conspiracy
Raoul Weil, who previously served as head of UBS (UBS)’s Global Wealth Management division, has pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy charges related to a US tax investigation probe involving the Swiss bank. Weil, 54, is accused of conspiring to help thousands of American citizens hide $12 billion at the bank.…
Lawyers Say Electronic Communication Retention Will Lead to More Securities Enforcement Actions
At a webcast on January 22, lawyers said that the electronic communication issues and the retention of e-mail would be a big part of broker-enforcement by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the SEC this year. E-mails are reportedly now a key factor in investigations by the two regulators. Also now…
UBS Bet on Puerto Rico and Lost Your Money
The level of co-dependence between UBS Puerto Rico and Puerto Rico over the past several years is shocking. UBS Puerto Rico has been operating for almost 50 years. It has grown to the point that it manages almost as much money in Puerto Rico as every other brokerage firm combined.…
Foreign Banks Soon Expected to Abide by US Rules
The Federal Reserve will soon likely finish the rules that would force big foreign banks to follow the same requirements as their US counterparts are have been abiding by ever since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. A number of these overseas banks are reportedly not happy…
JP Morgan VP Barred from Securities Industry By FINRA for Insider Trading Scam
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is barring J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC (JPM) vice president David Michael Gutman and ex-Meyers Associates LP Christopher John Tyndall from the securities industry for their alleged involvement in an insider trading scheme. According to the self-regulatory organization between March 2006 and October 2007, Gutman, who…
Ex-Oppenheimer Fund Manager to Pay $100K To Settle Private Equity Fund Fraud Charges
Brian Williamson, a former Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) portfolio manager, has consented to a securities industry bar and will pay $100,000 as a penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement resolves private equity fund fraud charges accusing him of making misrepresentation about one the value of one fund.…
Madoff Ponzi Scam Victims Win Right to Appeal for Interest
A group of investors that were victimized in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scam has won the right to appeal directly to a federal court about a bankruptcy ruling that prevents them from factoring in the amount of time they invested with the financial fraudster as interest that they want back.…
Family Pleads Guilty to $10M Massachusetts Ponzi Scam
Steven Palladino, his wife Lori, and son Gregory have pleaded guilty to their involvement in a Massachusetts Ponzi scam that cost at least victims over $10 million, much of which can never be recovered. Defrauded investors included friends, acquaintances, and a veteran’s group. In Suffolk Superior Court this week, Palladino…
Goldman Sachs Must Contend with Proposed Class-Action CDO Lawsuit
U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero says that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) must face a proposed class action securities case accusing it of defrauding customers that purchased specific collateralized debt obligations at the beginning of the financial crisis. The lead plaintiff, Dodona I LLC, contends that the firm created two…