Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has filed an adversary complaint against Barclays Capital Inc. requesting the return of billions of dollars in extra profit that it says the latter made when buying Lehman’s North American brokerage business last year. Lehman says that Barclays failed to disclose that it received an illegal…
Investor Lawyers Blog
Edward Jones and Merrill Lynch Brokers Like Where They Work, While UBS Representatives are the Least Happy
According to Registered Rep magazine’s latest Broker Report Card, 98% of Edward Jones brokers say their securities firm is the best place to work. 78% of Merrill Lynch brokers ranked their investment firm as the number the one workplace. Findings were compiled from Internet surveys taken by 898 captive brokers…
UBS Loses Lehman Arbitration Note Claim by Small Investor
In an arbitration case that could affect numerous cases that are still pending, a Financial Industry Regulation Authority panel awarded a small investor $200,000 after finding that a UBS Financial Services broker acted inappropriately when he sold high-risk Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. principal-protected notes to the claimant. The case involving…
Even as FINRA Lost $696.3 Million in 2008, its Executives Made Millions
Last year, 13 current and ex- Financial Industry Regulatory executives made over $1 million each, even as the regulatory organization posted a $696.3 million loss ($439 million in investment losses). Compensation included salary, retirement plan awards, and bonuses. This data, reported in Investment News, is found in FINRA’s latest tax…
Texas Securities Commissioner Not Convinced SEC Has Reformed Itself Since Madoff Ponzi Scam
Denise Voigt Crawford, the Texas securities commissioner and current North American Securities Administrators Association president, says it isn’t evident that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has implemented key reforms to the issues that allowed the agency to fail to detect Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion ponzi scheme for almost 20…
SEC Submits Amended Complaint Against Bank of America Over Merrill Lynch Merger and Executive Bonuses
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s amended complaint regarding the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America Corp. last January includes one new assertion. In addition to the SEC’s original allegations against Bank of America, the agency now says that the investment bank was in violation of proxy regulations…
The Investor Protection Act is Approved by House Financial Services Committee
The US House Financial Services Committee has voted to pass the Investor Protection Act, which is part of a package of bills focused on widening financial industry oversight and investor protection. The bill increases the US Security and Exchange Commission’s authority and doubles the agency’s funding, giving it another $1.115…
Braintree Appeals to Keep Auction-Rate Securities Lawsuit Against Citigroup in Court
Braintree Laboratories Inc. is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to keep its auction-rate securities lawsuit against the brokerage division of Citigroup Inc. in court. A federal court had ordered the proceedings into arbitration. Last April, the pharmaceutical company sued Citigroup for securities fraud, accusing the…
FINRA Bars Former Piper Jaffray & Co. Broker from Industry for Insider Trading
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is barring a former Piper Jaffray & Co. broker from the securities industry. The broker was accused of insider trading. He has agreed to the ban and has settled the FINRA charges without denying or admitting wrongdoing. From 2007 until this July, the broker worked…
Fighting Senior Investment Fraud: Panel Calls for SEC, Labor Department, and Treasury Department to Work Together
Participants at an AARP/National Consumer League panel called on federal regulators from the US Labor Department, Treasury Department, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to work together when combating elder financial fraud. North Carolina deputy securities administrator David Massey said not only must federal regulators from the different departments identify…