Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has ordered CapWest Securities Incorporated to pay nearly $940,000 in a Texas securities fraud case filed by a group of investors over the recommendation and sale of numerous illiquid, risky, convertible debentures. The claimants had accused CapWest of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract,…
American International Group (AIG) is seeking to recover over $10 billion in mortgage-backed securities-related losses from Bank of America (BAC). The losses were allegedly sustained on $28 billion in investments. In what may be the largest MBS-related action filed by one investor, the complaint accuses Bank of America and its…
According to Bloomberg.com, the registered investment adviser industry may offer little protection to investors who end up with an incompetent adviser. This, even though investment advisers, unlike brokers, are upheld to a fiduciary standard to make their clients’ interests a priority and charge fees rather than commissions. With over 14,000…
The SEC is charging Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. and its former Senior Vice President David W. Noack with securities fraud over the sale of unsuitable, high-risk complex investments to 5 Wisconsin school districts. Stifel and Noack allegedly misrepresented the risks involved in investing $200 million in synthetic collateralized debt obligations…
Three years after five Wisconsin school districts filed their securities fraud lawsuit against Stifel, Nicolaus & Company and the Royal Bank of Canada, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against the brokerage firm and former Stifel Senior Vice President David W. Noack over the same allegations. The charges…
A 76-year-old Amarillo insurance agent has pleaded guilty to 15 counts of Texas securities fraud over the sale of bogus investments and unregistered securities that resulted in over $5 million in losses for primarily elderly investors. The Texas State Securities Board won’t sentence John F. Langford until next month, but…
Recently, our stockbroker fraud law firm reported on the $100 million class action settlement that Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.’s OppenheimerFunds Inc. has agreed to pay to settle allegations that it did not properly manage its Oppenheimer Core Bond Fund (OPIGX) and Oppenheimer Champion Fund (OCHBX, OPCHX and OCHCX). The…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has struck down a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that would have let company shareholders nominate one or two director nominees to their boards. The proxy access rule would have allowed groups with possession of a minimum 3% voting…
In comment letters sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission, numerous law firms wrote that the retroactive approach taken in a proposed rule to bar “bad actors” from Regulation D private offerings under the 1933 Securities Act sets up a number of fairness issues. The law firms also cautioned that…
An El Paso man accused of running a Texas Ponzi scheme may in fact be a man who was convicted of fraud in Maryland more than 10 years ago. Scott Lindemann is now charged with wire fraud for allegedly defrauding at least 25 investors of $2 million. Prosecutors say that…