Speaking before the Private Equity International Private Fund Compliance Forum, Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations Director Carlo di Florio reminded the audience that investment advisers are fiduciaries to advisory clients, including client funds. He made his comments just as the SEC is preparing to start…
A judge has sentenced Joseph Blimline to 20 years in prison over his involvement in two complex, oil and gas Ponzi scams that took place in Texas and Michigan. The Dallas man, who was sentenced to two counts of conspiracy, was actually sentenced to 240 months behind bars for each…
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has revived the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s fraud lawsuit against Morgan Keegan & Co. accusing the financial firm of allegedly misleading investors about auction-rate securities. The federal appeals court said that a district judge was in error when he found that alleged…
Forethought Financial Group, a privately-owned Houston based firm, is bringing more annuities business to Texas with its purchase of The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG)’s annuities units. The deal was announced on April 26. It was just in March that The Hartford made it known that it was planning…
According to Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Director Robert S. Khuzami, the restructuring that has recently taken place at that agency’s division is allowing the SEC to not just improve the quality of its efforts but also its results. He spoke at a Practicing Law Institute conference earlier this month.…
Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), UBS AG (UBSN), Morgan Stanley (MS), and Citigroup Inc. (C) have consented to pay a combined $9.1 million to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claims that they did not adequately supervise the sale of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds in 2008 and 2009. $7.3 million…
In SEC v. SinoTech Energy Ltd., Securities and Exchange Commission is suing SinoTech Energy Ltd. (CTESY), a Chinese oil field services company, for securities fraud. According to the Commission, SinoTech allegedly made misrepresentations about how its IPO proceeds were used, as well as misrepresented its assets’ value. The company also…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is accusing optionsXpress, a Charles Schwab Corp. (SCHW) subsidiary, of being involved in a naked short selling scheme between 2008 and 2010. The SEC filed an administrative order against the online futures and options brokerage and clearing agency, its CEO, and a client while settling…
The SEC has ordered investment adviser Montford Associates and Ernest Montford Sr. to pay $650K in penalties for failing to disclose that it had received $210K from an allegedly fraudulent hedge fund that it had recommended to clients. The name of the fund is SJK Investment Management. Its owner, Stanley…
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida has decided not to throw out a securities fraud lawsuit filed by a couple of unsophisticated investors contending that allegedly false oral misrepresentations were made to them causing them to think that their money would be placed in low risk,…