Financial Firms

JPMorgan Expands Disclosures for Private-Banking Clients

Published on: July 28, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to The Wall Street Journal, J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) is now articulating more clearly the difference between outside products and its own offerings to private-banking clients, as well as letting them know how much of their monies have gone to each. These more detailed explanations come, say the newspaper’s sources, in the wake of recent questioning by regulators on whether the firm was pushing its own products over others.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission has been monitoring whether brokers are selling the products that are right for a client or directing a customer to the ones that would make a broker-dealer the most money.

Individuals that belong to J.P. Morgan’s private-banking division have at least $10 million in investible assets, reports The Wall Street Journal. The firm has been criticized before for favoring its own funds. It even paid $384 million to American Century Investments in an arbitration case a few years ago for promoting J.P. Morgan funds over the latter’s funds.

Lloyds Could Pay Over $500M To Settle LIBOR Rigging Allegations

Published on: July 25, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to the Financial Times, Lloyds Banking Group (LYG) is expected to soon announce that it has agreed to pay up to $509M to settle London Interbank Offered Rate rigging allegations. The settlement would include moneys to be paid to UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and The U.S.’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Department of Justice.

The British bank is just one of a number of financial institutions accused of manipulating major interest rate benchmarks. Lloyds belonged to the panel that turned in rates to yen-Libor and was a member of dollar-Libor, euro-denominated Libor, and sterling Libor panels.

Several authorities around the world have been probing numerous entities over allegations that traders colluded to gather to benefit their own trading books while their employers benefited from giving off an inflated impression of their actual financial health. Other banks that have settled include UBS (UBS), Barclays (BARC), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), ICAP, RP Martin, and Rabobank.

Investors Pursue UBS’s Puerto Rico Brokerage Over Closed-End Bond Funds

Published on: July 23, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is reporting that roughly 400 claims have already been filed against UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico (UBS) and other brokerage firms over the fallout of municipal bonds and bond funds related to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. As the U.S. territory’s bonds continue to drop in price, more investors are likely to file cases.

According to Securities Attorney Sam Edwards, one of the partners at Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas currently representing dozens of investors who lost money in these investments, “”The recent drop in Puerto Rico bond prices have resulted in Puerto Rico bonds, and the bond funds holding Puerto Rico bonds, to give back most, if not all, of the gains of the last nine months. Bond prices have largely returned to the lows suffered in the Fall of 2013.” Mr. Edwards continues, “This is likely to result in new groups of clients coming forward as the rally in Puerto Rico debt appears to have been short-lived.”

Investors, many of them locals, took huge financial losses when two dozen Puerto Rico bond funds sponsored by UBS and Popular Securities, Inc. (Banco Popular) declined in value last year. Many of the investors are retirees and other senior investors that have now lost their life savings. However, they are not the only ones impacted.

Morgan Stanley to Pay $275M to Settle SEC RMBS Fraud Charges

Published on: July 23, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Morgan Stanley (MS) has consented to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission residential mortgage-backed securities charges by paying $275 million. The regulator had accused the firm of misrepresenting the delinquency status of mortgage loans behind two subprime RMBS during the peak of the financial crisis.

According to the SEC, not only did the firm understate how many delinquent loans were underwriting the securitizations, but also it failed to inform investors of the full scope of the facts that they needed to make informed choices. As a result, investors were defrauded.

The securitizations at issue were collateralized by mortgage loans that had an aggregate principal value balance greater than $2.5 billion. The offerings were the:

Bank of America Settles RMBS Allegations with AIG for $650M

Published on: July 18, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) has paid American International Group Inc. (AIG) $650 million to settle residential mortgage-backed securities fraud claims. The insurer had originally asked for $10 billion when it filed its RMBS fraud lawsuit in 2011.

According to the complaint, Bank of America’s mortgage company Countrywide Financial, misrepresented the quality of mortgage securities it was selling to investors. The settlement resolves the securities fraud litigation brought by the insurer against the bank. This includes lawsuits in California and New York accusing Bank of America of fraudulently causing billions of dollars in losses.

It also takes away the largest obstacle to Bank of America’s $8.5 billion mortgage securities settlement with institutional investors over the financial instruments that Countrywide issued. The investors in that case are 22 institutions, including BlackRock Inc. (BLK.N), and MetLife Inc. (MET.N).

Barclays and Deutsche Bank Under Scrutiny Over Barrier Options Transactions

Published on: July 17, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations plans to conduct a hearing over what it believes are abusive transactions made by financial institutions. Bloomberg is reporting that Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Barclays PLC (BARC), and hedge fund manager Renaissance Technologies LLC will have representatives testifying at the hearing.

The July 22 hearing is expected to focus on barrier options transactions between the banks and the hedge fund manager. There are tax benefits that allegedly came from the options, which the Internal Revenue Service and Renaissance are in dispute over.

Bloomberg reports that the transactions let the hedge fund manager’s Medallion fund borrow up to $17 for every dollar the fund owned, which is more than it could have in a traditional margin-lending relationship. Under Federal Reserve rules, stockbrokers are not allowed to lend over $1 for each client money dollar. Usually, hedge funds can borrow no more than $5 or $6 for each dollar it has and only if there is a special agreement with the banks.

Citigroup Settles Mortgage-Backed Securities Probe with DOJ for $7 Billion

Published on: July 14, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Citigroup (C) has reached a $7 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations it misled investors about mortgage-backed securities in the time leading up to the 2008 financial meltdown. The settlement includes a $4 billion penalty to be paid to DOJ, $2.5 billion in consumer relief, and $500 million to a number of states and the Federal Deposit Insurance Group.

According to the U.S. government, Citigroup knew it was selling mortgage-backed securities with loans that had “material defects” and hid this information from investors. Attorney General Holder called this misconduct “egregious.” He said the bank played a role in spurring the economic crisis.

The government released a statement of fact to which Citibank consented. In it are details about how the bank ignored its own warning signs that certain mortgages were subpar and made misrepresentations about the loans that were securitized. One U.S. attorney told The Wall Street Journal that the DOJ discovered 45 mortgage-backed security deals between 2006 and 2007 where inaccuracies about underlying loans’ and their quality were made.

Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, Citigroup Sued by Pimco and Blackrock Over Trustee Roles Involving Mortgage Bonds

Published on: July 3, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Pacific Investment Management Co. and BlackRock Inc. (BLK) are leading a group of investors, including Charles Schwab Co. (SCHW), Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU), DZ Bank AG, and Aegon in suing trust banks for losses they sustained related to over 2,000 mortgage bonds that were issued between 2004 and 2008. Defendants include units of US Bancorp (USB), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Wells Fargo (WFC), HSBC Holdings (HSBA.LN), Citigroup (C), and Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK).

The investors are accusing the banks of breaching their duty as trustee when they did not force bond issuers and lenders to buy back loans that did not meet the standards that buyers were told the bonds possessed. It is a trustee’s job to make sure that principal payments and interest go to bond investors. They also need to make sure that mortgage servicing firms are abiding by the rules that oversee defective loans or homeowner defaults.

Trustees, however, have said that their duties are restricted to tasks like supervising the way payments are made to investors and giving regular reports about bond servicing. They disagree about having a wider oversight duty to fulfill.

US Supreme Court Will Hear Appeal Over Libor Antitrust Claims

Published on: July 2, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in Ellen Gelboim et al v. Bank of America Corp. The lawsuit was filed by bond investors who lost money in securities tied to the London Interbank Offered Rate and the manipulation of the global benchmark interest rate. Now, the nation’s highest court is granting their request to let their claims go forward and will hold oral arguments on the lawsuit during its next term.

For the last three years, different kinds of investors have filed numerous securities fraud cases against the largest banks in the world claiming that they manipulated Libor. Last year, a district court judge allowed investors to pursue certain claims but threw out their antitrust claims.

Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald said that the settling of Libor was not competitive but, rather, cooperative; it involved banks providing data to a trade group that established the rate. Plaintiffs therefore could not prove that anticompetitive behavior harmed them.

Broker Fraud: Ex-Investors Capital Rep. is Indicted in Ponzi Scheme, Credit Suisse Sues Two Ex-Brokers Over Client Data Theft, and SEC Files More Insider Trading in IBM-SPSS Acquisition

Published on: July 1, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Investors Capital Rep. Charged in $2.5M Ponzi Scam

Patricia S. Miller, a former Investors Capital Corp. representative, has been indicted on charges that she ran a $2.5 million investment fraud. She is accused of promising clients high yields for placing funds in “investment clubs.” Miller allegedly took this money and either gambled it away or used it to pay for her own spending.

According to prosecutors in Massachusetts, alleged fraud took place from 2002 through May 2014. Investors Capital fired Miller last month. Her BrokerCheck Report notes that the independent broker-dealer let her go because she allegedly misappropriated funds, borrowed client money, generated false documents, and engaged in “fraudulent investment activity.” Miller is charged with five counts of wire fraud.