In a FINRA arbitration case filed by claimants Felix Bernard-Diaz, Julian Rodriguez and Luz Rodriguez against BBVA Securities of Puerto Rico, Inc., Jorge Bravo, Rafael Colon Ascar, Julio Cayere, and Sonia Marbarak, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Panel has awarded $1.2M to the claimants. The Rodriguezes and Felix Bernard-Diaz asserted…
The Securities and Exchange Commission wants comments on a proposed amendment to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s broker-deal supervision rules. The latter wants to change the rules by consolidating some of them, including NASD Rule 3010 and NASD Rule 3012 into its proposed Rules 3110 and 3120 that have to…
The North American Securities Administrators Association has issued its yearly list of the top investor threats. The list is compiled through a poll of its member state securities administrators. With the enactment of Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which takes away the advertising restrictions when it comes to soliciting securities…
The US Supreme Court has just listened to oral argument about how the Fifth Circuit appeals court interprets the breadth of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act’s (SLUSA), which precludes the majority of state class action cases involving plaintiffs claiming misrepresentations related to the buying or selling of a security…
The Securities and Exchange Commission will review corporate disclosure rules to possibly get rid of disclosure rules that are creating “information overload” for investors. Speaking to the National Association of Corporate Directors, SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White said that as the quantity and types of issues that companies have to…
According to Investment News, along with the much publicized-UBS Puerto Rican Bond Funds, the municipal bond funds of OppenheimerFunds appear to have also been hit by Puerto Rico’s financial problems. The Oppenheimer Rochester Virginia Municipal Bond Fund (ORVAX), valued at $125 million, is down by over 15%, which places it…
The Massachusetts Securities Division has written inquiry letters to UBS Financial Services (UBS), Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.’s Oppenheimer Funds, and Fidelity’s FMR Co. Inc. about the sales of Puerto Rican municipal debt obligations that were made investors in the state. The regulator wants to know exactly to what extent…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has published answers to frequently asked questions as guidance about liability that may come out of the Exchange Act related to the responsibilities of chief compliance officers and other legal and compliance staff at broker-dealers. The advisory was issued so firms could consider which circumstances…
Hope that the US Treasury will save ailing Puerto Rico bonds does not appear to be warranted. According to a spokesperson for the department, who did not wish to be named, the Treasury will not be providing help to the US territory over the municipal bond fund debacle. However, reports…
The securities attorneys with Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas are investigating claims of investors who purchased Puerto Rico municipal bonds. Many of the largest brokerage firms that operate in Puerto Rico, including UBS, Banco Popular, and Banco Santander, have been selling huge amounts of securities which directly or indirectly were…