In a divided 2-1 ruling, the Illinois Appellate Court has decided that Platinum Partners Value Arbitrage Fund LP can sue the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the Options Clearing Corporation for allegedly telling certain traders about a downward adjustment made to the price of certain mutual fund options. The ruling…
According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ‘s lead arbitrator recruiter, the self-regulatory organization is taking active steps to create a roster of arbitrators that is not only larger than its current one, but also more professionally and culturally diverse. Barbara Brady spoke at a Practicing Law Institute seminar this…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has affirmed a lower court’s ruling to dismiss the ARS lawsuit filed against Merrill Lynch (MER), Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith Inc. ( MLPF&S), Moody’s Investor Services (MCO), and the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (MHP). Pursuant to state and federal law,…
The North American Securities Administrators Association has issued its yearly list of financial products and practices that it believes pose among the greatest investment danger to investors. The 10 on this year’s list, which was put together by securities regulators in the association’s Enforcement Section are: 1) Gold and precious…
Amerigroup Corp (AGP) shareholders are suing its board and Goldman Sachs Group (GS) because they say that the defendants’ conflicts of interest got in the way of other bids being considered before they agreed to let WellPoint Inc. (WLP) buy the managed care company for $4.9B. The shareholders’ securities lawsuit…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is rejecting the appeal filed by stockbroker Kevin Wells, who was found liable for making unauthorized trades of Cyberonics Inc. (CYBX) in a customer’s account. In an initial default judgment, the customer, plaintiff William Wehrs, was awarded approximately $49,861 in damages.…
In the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the shareholder complaint against a number of Goldman Sachs Group (GS) executives, including CEO Lloyd Blankfein, COO Gary Cohn, CFO David Viniar, and ex-director Rajat Gupta, has been dismissed. The lead plaintiffs of this derivatives lawsuit are the…
Reversing a trial jury’s ruling, the Texas Court of Appeals has said that a letter of intent to sell Fiduciary Financial Services of the Southwest, Inc.’s outstanding stock to Corilant Financial, L.P. and Corilant Financial Management, LLC is not an enforceable contract. The appeal’s court ruling also reverses the lower…
The SEC is charging ex-University of Georgia football coach Jim Donnan over his alleged involvement in an $80M Ponzi scam that defrauded nearly 100 investors. Donnan is a College Football Hall of Famer who also coached at Marshall University and has worked as a sports commentator. He, along with Gregory…
The criminal probe into brokerage firm MF Global’s collapse and its inability to account for approximately $1.6 billion in customer funds will likely end with no criminal charges filed against anyone. Sources involved in the case are reportedly saying that investors are finding that not fraud, but “porous risk controls”…