New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman doesn’t believe that Madoff Trustee Irving Picard should be allowed to block the $410 million securities settlement reached between the state and J. Ezra Merkin, the former GMAC Financial Services chairman who was the money manager of funds that acted as the “feeders” to…
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and The Federal Reserve is ordering JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to fix the breakdown that occurred in its risk management that resulted in the “London Whale” trades. These were outsized credit derivatives bets made by a group of traders in the UK that…
Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) have agreed to collectively pay $557M to settle complaints accusing them of wrongfully foreclosing on homeowners. Under their respective agreements with the Federal Reserve, Morgan Stanley will pay $227M while Goldman will pay $330M. Approximately 220,000 people who lost their homes due to…
According to The Wall Street Journal, the major print media don’t believe that the country’s premier corporate litigation forum should be able to arbitrate business disputes. On Monday, News Corp, the news publication’s parent company, was joined by The New York Times Company, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, Atlantic…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has rejected Credit Suisse Group’s (CS) motion to dismiss Elbit Systems Ltd. v. Credit Suisse Group, the auction-rate securities lawsuit filed by an investor claiming that alleged misconduct took place at a Credit Suisse Group brokerage firm subsidiary Credit…
Three years after Forbes magazine wrote an article exposing broker Bambi Holzer as someone whose investment advice to clients had resulted in more than $12M in securities settlements, brokerage firms continue to clear her trades. Over the years there have been dozens of complaints filed against her for improper broker…
This month, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced that it would be placing “significant resources” into monitoring high-frequency and algorithmic trading. The SRO said that following a number of market disruptions last year, it is worried about the way firms oversee these two systems. In its yearly examination and regulatory…
Lawmakers Question the SEC About Costs Related to Structural Reform Per the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s Section 967, the Securities and Exchange Commission has been tasked with assessing how to restructure its operations to better its use of internal communications and resources. The restructuring plan is…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has failed to approve the International Organization of Securities Commission’s final report on the suitability requirements for distributing complex financial products. Commissioners Troy Paredes and Daniel Gallagher say they disapprove of its release. They don’t think it accurately portrays relevant law and that the US…
In a divided decision, the SEC has decided that suspending Ernst & Young auditor Wendy McNeeley from Commission practice for half a year for her conduct as manager of the audit of investment adviser AA Investors Management LLC and a related fund is appropriate. According to the agency, McNeeley and…