Citigroup Global, Merrill Lynch, Wachovia Securities, UBS, Charles Schwab, and Morgan Stanley have volunteered to participate in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority pilot program that would allow investors to have their cases heard by a panel consisting of three public arbitrators. Currently, investors have the option of having their cases…
In its most recent survey of auction-rate securities holders, Pluris Valuation Advisors LLC found that 281 out of 460 public companies have taken write-downs on auction-rate securities worth $2.1 billion (a total par value of $32.2 billion). However, the remaining 179 companies still have to file 10-Q second quarter reports,…
The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth has filed securities fraud-related charges against Merrill Lynch for allegedly promoting the sale of auction rate securities while providing misleading information about market stability. According to Secretary William Galvin, Merrill Lynch aggressively sold ARS to investors while telling research analysts to downplay market risks…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a staff letter reporting on the “common weaknesses and deficiencies” shared by SEC-registered companies. The findings were based on examinations given to the firms. The “ComplianceAlert Letter” is intended to provide key information, encourage compliance officer to address these issues, and foster “robust…
Hospitals across the US are experiencing the downside of depending on auction-rate securities to raise capital at a low rate. With the collapse of the auction-rate securities market, the interest rates that hospitals had to pay for capital increased from 2-3% to 9-15%. While many hospitals tried to obtain letters…
In New York, a judge has approved the decision by investors of a Citigroup Falcon Fund to drop their lawsuit asking for more data about how the bank plans to liquidate the fund. On February 22, Citigroup announced it was providing the Falcon Funds a $500 million line of credit…
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a securities fraud lawsuit today against UBS AG related to what he is alleging was the firm’s fraudulent promotion of auction-rate securities as safe investments. He is reportedly seeking to make UBS offer to purchase back at face value approximately $25 billion…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed over 50 hedge fund advisors, including SAC Capital Advisors, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and Citadel Investment Group, as part of its probe into whether rumors affected the shares of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. The SEC is looking for information related to options…
In St. Louis, Missouri, 10 securities regulators probing the auction-rate securities crisis arrived at Wachovia Securities today. The firm has reportedly failed to fully comply with requests related to the investigation, which is what prompted the onsite visit. The investigators, from Missouri, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and other US…
Scottrade Inc. agreed to pay a $950,000 civil penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it made fraudulent misrepresentations to clients related to the execution of Nasdaq pre-open orders. The brokerage firm is not admitting to or denying wrongdoing by settling the charges. Scottrade is, however, agreeing to…