Merrill Lynch Life Agency Inc. will pay $18 million to the Illinois Division of Insurance to settle the state’s investigation into the investment firm’s involvement with a trust fund overseen by the Illinois Funeral Directors Association. The trust was supposed to cover funeral costs for about 49,000 consumers that had…
VSR Financial Services, an investment firm, has agreed to pay $10.3 million to settle a FINRA claim that it failed to properly supervise two ex-brokers accused of improperly selling risky investments to 249 customers. The agreement ends the litigation brought by the investors, many of them retirees, against VSR and…
Earlier this month, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, ex-Dallas Cowboys football player Michael Kiselak and three other defendants were charge for their alleged involvement in a $24 million investment fraud scheme. The US Securities and Exchange Commission is suing the defendants, which include Kiselak, who…
California Attorney General Edmund G Brown, Jr. is suing Wells Fargo Investments LLC, Wells Fargo Institutional Securities, and Wells Fargo Brokerage Services for $1.5 billion. Brown is accusing the Wells Fargo affiliates of violating state securities laws and misleading California investors with false statements about auction-rate securities. According to the…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has come under fire once more over its ability to regulate the parties under its watch. This time, the accusations are over possible incidents involving its own employees engaging in misconduct and abuse. These allegations don’t come at a good time for the SEC, which…
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has announced a $60 million settlement with Goldman Sachs over the alleged role the investment bank played in the subprime mortgage crisis. While Goldman did not originate the loans, it played a role in their securitization. Coakley has been conducting a nationwide probe targeting investment…
Regions Financial Corp, a Morgan Keegan & Co brokerage unit, says the US Securities and Exchange Commission may file a civil proceeding against it over charges that the firm allegedly engaged in the improper sale of auction-rate securities. The regulator filed a “Wells Notice” against Morgan Keegan in March. The…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says it is fining Centaurus Financial Inc. because the firm failed to protect customers’ confidential information. The California-based company must notify brokers and affected customers of the breach and give clients a year of free credit monitoring. Also as part of its settlement with FINRA,…
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged six people, including ex-Citigroup Global Markets’ investment banker Maher Kara and his brother Michael Kara, with taking part in a multimillion-dollar insider trading investment scam that involved tipping others about upcoming merger deals. The Karas were indicted in a California district court.…
An Illinois federal court has ruled in line with the Seventh Circuit and says it will impose sanctions on a party that tried to get an arbitration award vacated because he only put forth frivolous arguments. The case is Halim v. Great Gatsby’s Auction Gallery, Inc. Cameel A. Halim purchased…