The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says that it is fining and censuring Trillium Brokerages LLC and 11 individuals $2.27 million for their involvement in an illegal high frequency trading strategy and supervisory failures. It is the first enforcement action to target this type of improper trading behavior. FINRA claims that…
According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, under federal securities law a broker-dealer can be liable as a control person if one of its registered representatives is involved in a Ponzi scam even if the scheme was channeled through a separate entity. The court issued its…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says the SRO is investigating whether broker-dealers failed to put adequate risk-management controls in place for high-frequency traders with access to an exchange or alternative trading system. The probe comes following the flash crash last May that involved the stock markets dropping almost 1,000 points…
Calamos Asset Management, Inc., the Calamos Convertible Opportunities and Income Fund (NYSE: CHI), Calamos Advisors LLC, current trustees, and one former Fund trustee are now the defendants of a putative class action securities complaint purportedly submitted on behalf of a class of common fund shareholders. The securities fraud lawsuit is…
After two months of deliberation, a jury has found Ex-DHB Industries CEO David Brooks and Ex-DHB Industries COO Sandra Hatfield guilty of committing securities fraud, insider trading, and obstruction of justice. The two defendants allegedly made close to $200 million as a result of their scam. The jury also found…
A superior court judge has turned down Standard & Poor’s motion to dismiss Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s lawsuit against it. Blumenthal, who filed companion complaints against Moody’s Corp, and Fitch Inc., is accusing the credit rating agency of issuing artificially low ratings to municipalities. He claims that this ended…
Ilya Eric Kolchinsky, a former Moody’s Investors Service executive, is suing the credit ratings agency for defamation. This is one of the first lawsuits involving a Wall Street company and an ex-employer that blew the whistle on it. Kolchinsky is seeking $15 million in damages in addition to legal fees.…
Basis Yield Alpha Fund says that its $56 million securities fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. should go to trial. The Australian hedge fund contends that its securities complaint, which accuses the investment bank of inflating certain collateralized debt obligations’ value, meet the standard recently articulated by the US…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has decided to permanently exempt Goldman & Sachs Co. from a 1940 Investment Company Act provision that would have disqualified the financial firm from serving as a principal underwrite. Goldman and several of its affiliates applied for exemption from ICA Section 9(a) after settling for…
In an indictment unsealed in federal court, Adley H. Abdulwahab, Christian M. Allmendinger, and David C. White were charged with running a life insurance scam and stealing $103 million from at least 800 investors in the United States and Canada. Their Texas securities scheme allegedly involved the sale of “bonded…