The Supreme Court’s justices are looking to the Obama administration for advice about an appeal made to a ruling allowing the victims of R. Allen Stanford’s $7 billion Ponzi fraud can pursue law firms, insurance brokers, and outside parties for damages. The defendants, third party firms, want the court to…
According to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, plaintiff Mary Ann Sovolella can sue AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. on behalf of eight mutual funds that belong to a variable annuity program for excessive management fees. Per Judge Peter Sheridan, the economic realities and a broad…
Britain’s Financial Services Authority managing director Martin Wheatley says that oversight of Libor should become the UK regulator’s job. He made his statements on Friday, proposing that over 100 Libor rates tied to maturities and currencies that lack enough trading information to be set properly should be eliminated right away.…
According to Attorney Daniel Duchovny, who is the special counsel to the Securities and Exchange Commission Corporation Finance Division’s Office of Mergers and Acquisitions, a two-track merger and acquisition structure known as the Burger King structure could cause certain 1934 Securities Exchange Act provisions to be triggered. Named after the…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a settlement with three men accused of trading on insider information about the acquisition between Mercer Insurance Group Inc. and United Fire & Casualty Co. (UFCS), with the latter to obtain the former. Per the SEC, in or around June 2010, Mercer Insurance…
Wisconsin regulators are suing Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association Inc. and Fiduciary Partners Inc. for allegedly improperly investing the money from a $48 million Wisconsin Funeral Trust. With a possible long-term deficit of $21 million, close to $6 million in investor money has already been lost. However, our stockbroker fraud law…
In her Texas securities lawsuit, investor Lillian Hohenstein is suing Behringer Harvard REIT I, one of the biggest nontraded real estate investment trusts. Hohenstein, who purchased 1,275 shares from the trust between 2004 and 2008, claims that the REIT, Behringer Harvard Holdings LLC, President and Chief Executive Robert Aisner, other…
Ex-hedge fund managers Christopher Fardella and Michael Katz have been sentenced to three years in prison after they pleaded securities fraud and conspiracy charges for defrauding investors of nearly $1 million. Per court documents, between April 2005 and November 2006, the two men, along with two co-conspirators, were partners in…
Lehman Brothers subsidiary Lehman Brothers Australia has been found liable for collateralized debt obligation losses sustained by 72 councils, churches, and charities during the global economic crisis. The class action securities lawsuit was led by three Australian counsels—Wingecarribee, Parkes and Swan City. A fixed settlement amount, however, has not yet…
At the Security Traders Association’s yearly market conference in DC, Richard Ketchum, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s chief executive officer and chairman, said that due to growing problems the SRO is heightening its surveillance and exam focus on the options industry. He noted that there has been an increase in complaints…