Yesterday – Sunday – it was reported that JP Morgan bailed-out Bear Stearns by paying its shareholders a measly quarter of a billion dollars. One question plaguing Wall Street is how many other victims of sub-prime mortgages will emerge? Below we assess the winners and losers of this deal and…
Three A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. brokers are being ordered to pay $750,000 in fines for their participation in a market-timing scam that involved mutual funds that benefited certain customers. The brokers, Thomas Bridge, James Edge, and Jeffrey Robles, were also ordered to serve suspensions from the securities industries. Bridge,…
Former UBS Executive Mitchel Guttenberg is looking at a possible 90 years in prison. Guttenberg recently pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy and four counts of securities fraud for his involvement in an insider trading scam. Prosecutors had accused Guttenberg of selling nonpublic data from UBS stock analysts about…
Appearing before the U.S. Congress last week, Countrywide Financial CEO and founder Angelo Mozilo, Ex-Citigroup CEO Charles Prince, and Ex-Merrill Lynch Chairman and CEO Stanley O’Neil gave their testimonies to the House Committee on Government and Oversight Reform. The three men say that reports about their compensation are “grossly exaggerated”…
Holston, Young, Parker & Associates Operator Boris Shuster has pled guilty to 14 counts of wire fraud and 13 counts of mail fraud in a foreign currency exchange scam that cost approximately $6.5 million and affected over 200 investors. Shuster, also known as “Robert,” was sentenced to 12 years and…
Fidelity Investments has agreed to pay an $8 million fine to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the company failed to properly supervise its stock traders that had improperly received gifts. 13 current and ex-Fidelity employees are targeted in the SEC investigation. The gifts were given to traders by…
Oppenheimer & Co. has settled Financial Industry Regulatory Association charges regarding the market timing of mutual funds. The company has agreed to pay $4.25 million as restitution to five dozen mutual fund companies, as well as a $250,000 fine. FINRA says that Oppenheimer failed to stop five traders’ engagement in…
Former Refco CEO and company co-owner Phillip Bennett has pled guilty to 20 criminal charges related to the $2.4 billion fraud-related downfall of his company. Former CFO Robert Trosten has also pled guilty to five counts stemming from similar criminal activities. Under Bennett’s supervision, Refco lost millions of dollars while…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that five major brokerage firms have agreed to pay fines totaling $2.4 million for supervision violations and improper mutual fund sales to thousands of investors. These firms must take remedial steps to prevent such actions in the future and pay amounts estimated…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is charging stockbroker John Mullins with misappropriating nearly $400,000 from an elderly widow and her charitable foundation. Esther Weil, a 97-year-old widow, died earlier this month. She was living in a nursing home. Mullins was her stockbroker for over 20 years. Mullins allegedly tried to…