Investor Lawyers Blog

Nomura & Royal Bank of Scotland Must Pay $806M in Mortgage-Backed Securities Case

Published on: May 18, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Nomura Holdings (NMR) and Royal Bank of Scotland group Plc (RBS) must pay $806 million in the mortgage-backed securities lawsuit filed against them by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. $779.4 million will go to mortgage lender Freddie Mac (FMCC) while $26.6 million will go to Fannie Mae (FNMA).

Judge Denise L. Cote of the Federal District Court in Manhattan was the one who found the two banks liable for making false statements when selling the securities to the two lending giants. The banks will also take back the mortgage bonds that are the basis of this lawsuit. As of the end of March, these bonds were worth up to $479 million.

It was Nomura that sponsored $2 billion of the securities purchased by Freddie and Fannie. RBS was the underwriter on four of the deals.

Financial Fraud Headlines: “The Financial Coach” to Pay $3.6M in Restitution to Investors, SEC Charges Father and Son with Insider Trading, and Massachusetts Accuses Investment Firm of Elder Financial Fraud

Published on: May 16, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

“The Financial Coach” Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud

Bryan C. Binkholder, also known as the “The Financial Coach,” will serve nine years in prison for bilking clients. Binkholder used books, a talk show, and YouTube videos to market his “hard money lending” program.

According to prosecutors, he touted himself as serving real estate developers that wanted to flip houses but he only made limited number of loans. Instead, he used investors’ funds to pay for his personal spending, give his wife a salary, and pay interest to other investors.

FINRA Gets Tough With Its Sanctions Against Brokers For Suitability Violations

Published on: May 15, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has decided to take tougher actions against brokers who violate suitability standards. The regulator is recommending that the National Adjudicatory Council, which oversees disciplinary proceedings, raise its suggested suspensions for brokers who make unsuitable recommendations from one year to two years. FINRA wants brokers who commit fraud be potentially barred and offending firms face potential expulsion.

FINRA’s revisions to its Sanctions Guidelines are to go into effect right away. They exist to protect investors from brokers who don’t comply with the suitability rule. The rule states that brokers can sell products that are to their benefit as long as these products also are in alignment with helping investors meet their investment goals.

Despite the changes, InvestmentNews reports, there are those who think that FINRA’s proposed sanctions are insufficient and, also, that there may be negative consequences for investors. For example, defendants facing two-year suspensions might opt to fight cases against them rather than settle because of the tougher penalty.

Barclays Also Likely to Be Fined For Libor Settlement Breach

Published on: May 15, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Bloomberg says that according to sources familiar with the matter, in addition to the penalty that Barclays Plc (BCS) is expected to pay to resolve the U.S. Justice Department’s case for interest currency benchmark rigging, the bank will also likely have to pay a fine for violating an earlier settlement reached over interest rate rigging.

These sources say that as of a few weeks ago, the fine was at around $60 million, although negotiations are ongoing. If Barclays is fined it would be the second bank to be subject to penalization for such a violation.

The firm had arrived at a non-prosecution deal with the DOJ over allegations that it rigged the London interbank offered rate, even as it agreed in 2012 to pay $452.3 million to the DOJ, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and U.K.’s Financial Services Authority. As part of the non-prosecution agreement, Barclays consented not to commit criminal actions.

UBS Ordered to Pay Retired Investor $200,000 For Puerto Rico Bond Fund Losses

Published on: May 14, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) panel has ordered UBS Financial Services, Inc. and UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico (collectively “UBS”) to pay an investor $200,000 for losses she sustained by investing in UBS’s Puerto Rico closed-end bond funds. This is the first known ruling from a FINRA arbitration panel in the hundreds of municipal bond fraud lawsuits filed by investors over the last few years.

The investor, Yolanda Bauza, invested money she obtained in a car accident settlement. In her Puerto Rico bond fraud case, Bauza alleged misrepresentations, securities fraud, and other wrongdoing. In addition to the $200,000 award, the arbitrators denied the firm’s request to remove information about the case from the public records of David Lugo and Carlos Gonzalez, two of the brokers who advised Bauza.

According to Sam Edwards, a partner with Shepherd, Smith, Edwards & Kantas, who is representing a number of Puerto Rico bond fund investors, “We are very pleased that FINRA’s arbitrators recognized what those of us representing the many thousands of investors in Puerto Rico and abroad have known for almost two years: UBS’s Puerto Rico bond funds were highly conflicted, very risky and completely misrepresented to investors. They were suitable for almost no investors. As a result, those who invested in these bond funds, like Ms. Bauza, should be fairly compensated.”

Goldman Sachs Must Pay National Australia Bank $100M in Mortgage Fraud Case

Published on: May 13, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) arbitration panel recently ordered Goldman Sachs Inc. (“Goldman”) to pay $80 million in compensatory damages plus millions more in interest to National Australia Bank Ltd. (“NAB”), resulting in an award likely to cost Goldman (GS) more than $100 million. According to the award and NAB’s complaint, Goldman sold NAB several collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), including the Hudson Mezzanine Funding 2006-1 Ltd.

In particular, NAB paid $80 million for its stake in Hudson Mezzanine Funding, a Goldman-backed product, shortly before the financial crisis began. The investments failed when the market for CDOs and other asset backed securities fell apart in 2007 and 2008. In 2011, a U.S. senate report disclosed that while pitching Hudson Mezzanine Funding, Goldman did not tell investors such as NAB that it was betting against the assets supporting Hudson and other CDOs. As a result, according to NAB’s attorneys, when the economic crisis ensued, Goldman profited from the Hudson CDO while NAB and other investors lost all of their investment.

In its complaint, NAB contended that the mortgage-related deal posed a substantial conflict of interest between Goldman and its clients, and, therefore, Goldman was required under FINRA rules to disclose the conflict. Goldman argued it had no such disclosure obligation and, in fact, filed a counterclaim against NAB.

Moody’s Investors Group Drops City of Chicago’s Credit Rating to Junk

Published on: May 12, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investor Service has downgraded the credit rating for the city of Chicago, Illinois to junk, reducing the rating of its $8.1 billion of general obligation by two to Ba1, along with a negative outlook. That’s right under investment grade.

The reduction lets banks demand that the Illinois city pay back the debt it owes them early. It also makes Chicago vulnerable to fees to terminate swap contracts.

Aside from the Michigan city of Detroit, Chicago is the lowest-rated of any large city in the U.S. Moody’s downgrade comes after the Illinois Supreme Court decision over retirement benefits last week. The court unanimously decided that a state pension law to reduce government worker benefits, which would get rid of $105 billion in retirement system debt, was unconstitutional. Now, there is skepticism over whether Chicago can keep its $20 billion pension fund short fall under control.

Texas-Based Retirement Planning Firm Accused of Making False Claims to Investors About Life Settlements

Published on: May 11, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Novus Financial and principals Brady J. Speers and Christopher A. Novinger with making false claims about life settlements. The regulator filed its claim in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

According to the SEC’s complaint, from ’12 – ’14, the retirement planning firm and its principals sold about $4.3 million in life settlement interests to 26 investors. Speers and Novinger are accused of describing the investments as secure and safe. Both were purportedly willing to manipulate the financial data of investors to make the sale happen.

The Commission also claims that the firm, Novinger, and Speers used a net worth calculator that was bogus. This allowed a number of prospective investors to improperly qualify to buy the interests. In one instance, the non-homestead assets of one couple were falsely inflated to $1.5 million from $263K because of the calculator.

Nomura Holdings and Royal Bank Scotland Lose FHFA’s Mortgage-Backed Securities Case

Published on: May 11, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A U.S. District Court judge said that Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) and Nomura Holdings Inc. (NMR) misled Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae when it sold them faulty mortgage-backed securities in 2008. The two banks are the only financial firms who opted to go to trial rather than settle the claims against them. Over a dozen other firms, including Bank of America (BAC) and Goldman Sachs (GS), decided to resolve their cases filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. They collectively have paid close to $18 billion in penalties.

In her 361- page ruling, Judge Denise L. Cote of Federal District Court in Manhattan wrote that the extent of falsity committed by the two banks was “enormous.” She told the FHFA to propose how much Royal Bank of Scotland and Nomura should pay in the wake of her decision. The agency had initially sought approximately $1.1 billion.

The FHFA accused Nomura of cheating the two mortgage lenders when it sold them $2 billion of bonds that were backed by defective mortgages. It was RBS that underwrote more than half of the securitizations involved.

Florida Microcap Co. Accused of Bilking Over 400 Investors of More than $11M

Published on: May 7, 2015 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing eCareer Holdings Inc. and its executives for fraud. According to the regulator, the online staffing company bilked over 400 investors of $11 million when it miserpresented the company and sold shares that were unregistered. Also accused of fraud are three boiler room brokers who tried to conceal that they were barred from the industry.

According to the SEC’s microcap fraud case, investors were bilked in cold calls that were made through a boiler room run by Frederick Birks, Dean A. Esposito, and Joseph DeVito. The three of them and their sales agents were hired by eCareer CEO Joseph J. Azzata.

Investors were told their funds would go toward working capital to develop the company’s online job staffing business. Instead, approximately 30% of their money went toward outrageous fees to the agents and brokers.