Investor Lawyers Blog

Detroit Suburb Charged with Muni Bond Fraud

Published on: November 6, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging the Detroit, Michigan suburb of Allen Park with fraud involving a municipal bond sale that was supposed to finance a movie studio project. Also charged with municipal bond fraud are ex-city Mayor Gary Burtka and former City Administrator Eric Waidelich. All three settled without denying or admitting to the charges.

The Commission contends that Allen Park took advantage of a 2008 Michigan law giving substantial tax credits to film studios that engage in business in the state. The $147 million movie studio, called Unity Studios, was supposed to give jobs to thousands. The plan, however, failed when the city was unable to keep up its end of the partnership.

Because of the project, Allen Park ended up with a $2 million budget deficit. The regulator says that the studio became a “primary factor” in the failing economic health of the city. A vocational school was constructed on the site instead.

Texas Pension Fund Sues Tesco For Securities Fraud

Published on: November 5, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to the Irving Firemen’s Relief and Retirement Fund, Tesco PLC and its directors misled investors, purportedly causing the Texas pension fund to buy the company’s stock at prices that were artificially inflated. Because of this, says the fund, it sustained substantial losses when Tesco announced in September that it had overstated profits because of accounting irregularities.

The supermarket chain’s shares plunged after it disclosed that certain income was booked prior to being earned and costs were identified after they were incurred. Last month, Tesco said that it had overstated profits by $422 million.

The Irving pension fund wants to get class action status. It wants to represent Tescho shareholders who bought the company’s American depository receipts, representing one ordinary share each, between February 2 and September 22, 2014. In its securities fraud case, the Texas fund contended that Tesco purposely deceived the public.

Morgan Stanley Puts Aside $50M for Clients Who Didn’t Get Prospectuses for Purchased Securities

Published on: November 5, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The wealth-management arm of Morgan Stanley (MS) has set aside $50 million to pay back clients who didn’t get prospectuses after buying certain securities. The firm recently realized that a number of electronic prospectuses were never delivered to clients this year, as well as last.

Brokerages are required to send investors their prospectuses in a timely fashion. Because of the oversight, Morgan Stanley is now offering affected clients the chance to rescind the securities they purchased and receive refunds. The brokerage firm also said that it would reimburse clients for trades that lost value.

The firm had thought the oversight would cause it around $20 million. However, due to a raised level of rescission offer acceptances last month, that amount has more than doubled.

BlackRock Buys Part of UBS Puerto Rico’s Mutual Fund Operations, Say Sources

Published on: November 4, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to sources, an announcement is expected this week regarding the sale of UBS Puerto Rico’s (UBS-PR) mutual funds operations to BlackRock Asset Management (BLK). The move, say sources, is part of the Swiss giant’s strategy to exit the island.

To date, investors have filed nearly $1 billion in securities arbitration claims against UBS Puerto Rico alleging fraud and other wrongdoing in the sale of the funds. The broker-dealer recently consented to pay a fine of $5.2 million over fund improprieties. The settlement, reached with the Commonwealth’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions, included $1.7 million in restitution to 34 local low net-worth residents who had invested in Puerto Rico closed-end bond funds that were sold by UBS.

One investor was not happy with the settlement and some of the terms and individuals involved, which have not been disclosed. He is now suing the regulator. Last week, Martínez-Umpierre asked a local court to order the release of the confidential documents used to arrive at the settlement. He wants to find out how the 34 investors who will be getting restitution were chosen and how much they lost. Investors who have filed Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration claims against UBS are not eligible for compensation either.

DOJ Launches Criminal Probe Into JPMorgan, Citigroup Foreign Exchange Business

Published on: November 4, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. Department of Justice has begun a criminal probe into the foreign exchange businesses of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Citigroup (C). The investigations come in the wake of allegations that banks in the United States and abroad manipulated key reference rates in the foreign exchange currency markets.

On Monday, JPMorgan disclosed the criminal investigation in a regulatory filing. Noting that other regulators, including the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and UK’s Financial Conduct Authority are conducting civil probes, the firm estimated that current legal proceedings could reach $5.9 billion.

Last week, Citigroup announced that it too was facing a criminal probe over foreign currency trades and controls. The bank is also dealing with inquiries from regulators. Citigroup said it has put aside $600 million in legal provisions over what had been budgeted for the third quarter.

SEC Sanctions UBS, Charles Swab, Oppenheimer, & 10 Other Firms For Improper Sales of Puerto Rico Junk Bonds

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

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sanctioned thirteen financial firms, including UBS Financial Services (UBS), Charles Schwab and Co. (SCHW), J.P. Morgan Securities (JPM), and Stifel Nicolaus & Co. (SF), for the improper sales of Puerto Rican junk bonds. A $100,00 minimum denomination had been established in junk bonds of $3.5 billion made by Puerto Rico several months ago. An SEC probe, however, revealed that there had been 66 instances when firms sold the bonds in transactions of under $100,000.

Municipal bond offerings are supposed to have a set minimum denomination that determines the smallest amount that a firm can sell to an investor during a single transaction. Typically, municipal issuers will establish high minimum denominations for junk bonds with a greater default risk. This is done to limit the bonds from ending up in the accounts of investors who may not be able to handle the risks.

The firms and their fines: UBS Financial Services for $56,400, Charles Schwab & Co. for $61,800, Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) for $61,200, Wedbush Securities Inc. for $67,200, Hapoalim Securities USA for $54,000, TD Ameritrade (AMTD) for $100,800, Interactive Brokers LLC for $56,000, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. (SF) for $60,000, Investment Professionals Inc. for $67,800, Riedl First Securities Co. of Kansas for $130,000, J.P. Morgan Securities for $54,000, National Securities Corporation for $60,000, and Lebenthal & Co. for $54,000.

National Planning Holding Temporarily Stops Selling American Reality Capital Properties’ Nontraded REIT sales After Disclosure of $23M Accounting Error

Published on: October 31, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

National Planning Holding, a broker-dealer network, says that it has temporarily stopped offering American Realty Capital Properties Inc.’s (ARCP) non-traded real estate investment trusts for sale. The move comes after the real estate investment trust, run by Nicholas Schorsch, disclosed a $23 million accounting mistake. American Realty Capital is the top sponsor of nontraded REITs. Schorsch is its chairman.

The National Planning Holding suspension impacts just one Schorsch product, the Phillips Edison – ARC Grocery Center REIT II. This is a new REIT with about $207 million in total assets.

The four brokerage firms who are temporarily suspending sponsorship and distribution of the nontraded REITs by American Realty Capital Properties and its affiliates are SII Investments Inc., National Planning Corp, Investment Centers of America Inc., and INVEST Financial Corp. They are asking for Realty Capital Securities, the wholesaling broker-dealer for ARC products, to return unprocessed sales orders from INVEST advisers. They don’t want the brokerage firm to process related new business.

Ex-LPL Financial Adviser, James Bashaw from Texas, Lands at New Brokerage Firm

Published on: October 30, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

James “Jeb” Bashaw, the former star financial adviser at LPL Financial (LPLA) from Texas is now registered with International Assets Advisory, a small brokerage firm. LPL Financial fired Bashaw last month over allegations involving selling away. Then, for a while this month, he was with Wunderlich Securities Inc.

Selling away typically involves engaging in private securities transactions sans the required written disclosure or brokerage firm approval. It can also include borrowing from a client, as well as engaging in a transaction that is a potential conflict interest, again without the required disclosure in writing or firm approval.

Responding to the selling away allegations, Bashaw noted that he was “home supervised” and underwent more than a dozen perfect audits while affiliated with LPL. After his firing, Wunderlich took steps to hire Bashaw but there was a delay in transferring his license to the firm. In the end, the broker-dealer and Bashaw reportedly decided not to pursue a working relationship.

Shareholders Settle with Fannie Mae for $170M

Published on: October 30, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Fannie Mae (FNMA) and its shareholders have reached a $170M settlement in a lawsuit accusing the entity of misleading the plaintiffs about its risk management, finances, and mortgage exposure prior to its seizure by the U.S. government during the financial crisis of 2008. Now, a court must approve the agreement.

The lead plaintiffs are the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, the State-Boston Retirement Board, and the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, which are trying to obtain class action securities status for their case. The shareholders claim that Fannie Mae defrauded them, as well as inflated its stock via misleading and false statements about capitalization, internal controls, exposure to low-documentation “Alt-A” mortgages, subprime mortgages, and accounting.

Per the agreement, $123.8 million would go to common stockholder and Preferred stockholders would get $46.2 million. The stockholders would come from the period running from 11/8/06 to 9/5/08. During that time, Fannie Mae’s market value hit a peak of over $60 billion. Its current market value is $2.71 million.

Investors File Close to $1B of Puerto Rico Bond Fraud Claims against UBS

Published on: October 29, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In its third-quarter earnings reports this week, UBS noted that claims involving its Puerto Rico closed-end municipal bond funds are reaching close to $1 billion. That is a significant jump from the $600M mark those cases reached during the second quarter of this year, and this shows that the number of cases being filed against UBS continue to grow. According to multiple reports, the investors seeking almost $1 billion in losses are alleging unsuitability, fraud, and misrepresentation.

The third quarter has been a rough one for the Swiss banking giant. Reuters reports that the entity has put aside $1.9 billion for possible legal costs.

In the past year, UBS has been in the spotlight over claims that brokers in UBS’s Puerto Rico unit persuaded customers to get involved in the proprietary bond funds even if the funds were not suitable for the investors’ portfolios. Some clients reportedly were even encouraged to borrow so they could invest more.