Charles Schwab & Co. has recently been barraged with FINRA arbitration claims filed by investors alleging that the firm violated industry regulations and state securities laws. In their complaints, investors are accusing Charles Schwab of misleading them about the risks associated with certain mutual funds, including the degree to which…
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Secretary William Galvin is suing UBS because it says the investment firm pushed auction-rate securities onto investors in an effort to minimize its own losses. In his complaint, the state’s head securities regulator cited fraud as grounds for the lawsuit. Galvin cites several e-mails that indicate that…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has ordered a Connecticut man to pay $58,825 in civil penalties, prejudgment interest, and disgorgement to settle charges he engaged in a scheme to take part in unauthorized securities trades, which caused prices to rise dramatically. The Securities and…
Without admitting to our denying any wrongdoing, Citigroup has agreed to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it took part in improper accounting related to specific Argentine bonds. According to the SEC, Citigroup was able to avoid paying another $479 million in pre-tax charges during the 4th quarter of…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District has dismissed a securities fraud lawsuit filed by investor Nicholas Vale against ex-Merrill Lynch Internet Group head Henry Blodget on the grounds that Vale failed to factually show how the defendant’s fraud caused his investment losses. In his lawsuit, Vale accused Blodget…
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has slapped Lincoln Funds International Inc with a temporary restraining order and told the advisory firm to temporarily freeze its assets. Judge Cormac J. Carney also appointed a temporary receiver over the assets, as well as the assets of three…
Securities and Exchange Commission Administrative Law Judge James T. Kelly is ordering Next Financial Group Inc. to cease and desist from recruiting practices that violate privacy laws. He also has slapped the company with a $125,000 penalty. Recruiting practices that need to stop included those involving use of clients’ private…
The Boston Globe says it has reviewed documents that indicate that UBS Financial Services continued selling municipal bond investments without warning clients of the risks even though the firm already knew that trouble was brewing. Yet when the $330 billion auction-rate securities market shut down in February, UBS brokers expressed…
In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, former JP Morgan Chase and Credit Suisse investment banker Hafiz Muhammed Zubair Naseem was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in an insider tip scam. Prosecutors say that Naseem retrieved insider information from the internal…
Security regulators in Missouri, Utah, and a number of other US states are accusing World Financial Group of making variable annuities sales that are unsuitable and misrepresenting investment returns. A number of World Financial customers have filed private arbitration claims making similar allegations. World Financial is owned by Dutch insurer…