Investor Lawyers Blog

SEC Members Discuss Agency’s Core Mission, New Penalty Policy, and Private Offerings in the Wake of General Solicitation

Published on: November 12, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SEC Member Presses Regulator to Stick to Its Core Mission When Figuring Out Priorities

Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher wants the regulator to focus more on its mission when determining its regulatory agenda. He said that the SEC’s three mandates must always be considered: maintaining markets that are efficient and fair, making capital reform happen, and protecting investors.

Speaking at a AICPA/SIFMA Financial Management Society Conference, Gallagher said the agency should remove credit rating references from its rules, start reassessing the US market structure, put into place proxy advice reform, set up a new Regulation A Plus exemption, take a closer look at fixed-income regulatory issues, and reassess its disclosure regime. He believes that excessive credit rating dependence was a central cause for the failure of securitized products that led to the 2008 economic crisis. Gallagher says that the SEC should have taken out the credit ratings references years before the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Advice to Advisors: Financial Advisors Taught Ways to Avoid SEC Scrutiny

Published on: November 11, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations Director Andrew J. Bowden, next year the regulator intends to examine about 4,000 registered investment financial advisors who have never been visited by its inspectors before. Bowden said that the agency will target about 50% of firms that have yet to be examined. Some of these investment advisers have been registered for over three years.

Of the close to 11,000 financial advisors that the SEC oversees, nearly 40% have never undergone inspection by the regulator. Still, some are questioning whether Bowden’s office even has the resources to perform all these inspections.

In InvestmentNews, Ascendant Compliance Management partner Keith Marks lists the compliance issues that these yet to be inspected RIAs should deal with now so that they are ready should the agency come knocking:

SEC May Propose New Swaps Margins & Title VII Rules

Published on: November 11, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

At a Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets acting director John Ramsay said that the regulator will likely consider reworking a 2012 proposal that would establish margin requirements on specific swap trades now that international financial supervisors have established new margin requirements. It was The International Organization of Securities Commissions and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision that issued the document setting up a final framework for margin requirements related to non-centrally cleared derivatives.

Ramsey said that in the wake of this document, the proposed rules that the SEC might withdraw are the ones that affect margin requirements as they pertain to certain swaps. The structure set up by the Basel-IOSCO document partially puts into place specific margin requirements on financial firms and the systematically integral non-financial entities that take part in non-centrally cleared derivatives transactions.

The regulator’s earlier proposal would have established margin requirements for security-based swap dealers and major swap participants while upping the minimum net capital requirements for brokerage firms allowed to implement the alternative internal model-based method to compute net capital. Now, however, said Ramsey, the agency could propose a new rule to make sure there is comment on a “full range of initiatives,” including the ones addressed in the Basel-IOSCO document.

AIG Settles Ex-Executive’s $274M Lawsuit Over Alleged Failure to Pay Him During 2008 Economic Crisis

Published on: November 8, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

American Insurance Group and one of its ex-executives, Kevin Fitzpatrick, have reached a settlement deal over his $274 million lawsuit against the insurer. Fitzpatrick, the former president of the AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp. unit, claims that his then-employer would not pay him during the 2008 economic crisis. The insurer’s refusal to pay occurred not long after the US government said yes to the first part of what would turn into a $182 billion bailout.

Fitzpatrick, who worked for American Insurance Group for 22 years, said that the company breached agreements it had with him and entities under his control. He claims the agreements entitled him to a share of profits made on the insurer’s real estate investments but that on October 2008 they stopped paying him and others who were entitled to profit distributions. Fitzpatrick then quit.

Fitzpatrick sued in 2009, claiming that the company owed him $274 million and that he wanted interest and punitive damages, which is right around the time that the insurer was trying to get past public disapproval over $165 million in bonuses that were paid to employees in the AIG Financial Products unit. That is the group that handled the complex financial instruments that led to its huge losses.

AIG denied wrongdoing and said that Fitzpatrick was paid what he was owed. The insurer contended that Fitzpatrick actually was fired and that he stole data that was confidential and belonged to the company.

In other AIG-related news, a district court judge just threw out a shareholder lawsuit accusing Bank of America (BAC) of not telling them that the insurer was planning to sue the bank with a $10 billion fraud lawsuit. AIG accused Bank of America of misrepresenting the quality of more than $28 million of MBSs that AIG bought from the latter and its Countrywide and Merrill Lynch (MER) units.

Also, there are reports that AIG might file mortgage-backed securities case against Morgan Stanley (MS) over $3.7 billion of MBS.

Morgan Stanley Says AIG May Sue Over Mortgage-Linked Investments, Bloomberg, November 4, 2013

Bank of America wins dismissal of lawsuit on AIG disclosures, Reuters, November 4, 2013

AIG Sued by Its Own Executive as Tragedy Turns to Farce, CBS, December 10, 2009

ICE CEO Says US Equity Markets Lets Traders Advantage of Small Investors

Published on: November 7, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. CEO Jeff Sprecher says there is a problem with US equity markets in that they allow sophisticated traders to take advantage of small investors. Speaking to analysts a conference call, he spoke about how new structure markets hurt small investors because the current atmosphere is not kind to people who need to trade but are not as privy to as much information as are others.

According to data gathered by Bloomberg, nearly 40% of volume in trading across markets occurs on private platforms, and years of technological and regulator changes have caused fragmentation in trading. This has resulted in firms that employ computerized algorithms to execute transactions faster than is humanly possible. Meantime, penny increment quotes of stock prices are undermining profits and compelling exchanges to look to automated firms to provide liquidity, while alternative venues have been legitimized (following a 2007 rule change that ordered stocks) to trade wherever the price was best. Sprecher said that this modified market structure and such new innovations are what now make it easy for sophisticated firms to take advantage of ordinary investors.

However, the ICE CEO is certain that the New York Stock Exchange can help change the industry. NYSE is the only US stock exchange where humans still help with trading on the floor and Sprecher believes this “human touch” is still necessary. ICE is about to acquire NYSE Euronext (NYX), which is the largest owner of US stock exchange.

Lawmakers & Industry Folk Address the DOL Amending the Definition of Fiduciary, Reg A Plus Offerings, Oversight, Rogue Brokers, and Expungement Rules

Published on: November 7, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

US House Passes A Bill Prohibiting the US Labor Department DOL From Amending Its Definition of “Fiduciary” Until SEC’s Uniform Conduct Standard is Established

A bill that would not allow the Department of Labor to amend its rules regarding the definition of the term “fiduciary” until after Securities and Exchange Commission adopts its own rule that places broker-dealers and investment advisers under a uniform standard of conduct has passed in the US House of Representatives. The DOL has been trying to revise its definition of “fiduciary” in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Those who voted to prohibit revising the definition have been worried about possibly ending up with two rulemakings that were inconsistent with one another.

Reg A Plus Offerings and Their Oversight Get Capitol Hill Debate

Why did UBS Financial Advisors Recommend Puerto Rico Muni Bonds to Elderly and Retired Investors?

Published on: November 6, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In the wake of the Puerto Rico Bond Crisis, our securities fraud lawyers cannot help but wonder why advisors of UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico, Inc. (UBS) recommended that retiree and conservative investors get involved with municipal bonds that had close to junk ratings. Now, many of these investors are coming forward to pursue securities claims against the firm.

According to Forbes, merely assessing Puerto Rico muni bonds via Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s should have caused any good financial adviser to make sure that the junk bonds were only recommended to sophisticated clients that could afford the risks. Also, signs that Puerto Rico’s debt was only growing worse have been around for years.

Still, during the last decade, UBS managed to package $10 billion of closed-end bond funds full of risky Puerto Rican bonds that were highly leveraged and sold them to many retired and conservative investors. Now, customers want to know, how could UBS have overlooked the US territory’s unfunded liabilities, serious budget deficits, strict cash flow limitations, and slowed economic growth?

Judge Dismisses Shareholder Lawsuit Suing Bank of America For Allegedly Concealing AIG Fraud Case

Published on: November 6, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A judge has thrown out a securities lawsuit by shareholders accusing Bank of America Corp. (BAC) of concealing that insurer AIG (AIG) intended to file a $10 billion fraud case against it. U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan said that BofA and four of its officers were not obligated to reveal in advance that the lawsuit was pending or that it was a large one.

AIG filed its securities fraud lawsuit against Bank of America in 2011. The insurer claimed that the bank misrepresented the quality of over $28 billion of mortgage-backed securities it purchased not just from the bank but also from its Merrill Lynch (MER) and Countrywide units. On the day that the complaint was filed, shares of Bank of America dropped 20.3% and Standard & Poor’s revoked the tripe-A credit rating it had issued.

The shareholder plaintiffs claim that the bank’s officers, including Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, knew about the MBS fraud case six months before the lawsuit was submitted and they should have given them advance warning.

Two Investment Advisers Sue Twitter for Secondary Market Fraud

Published on: November 5, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Precedo Capital Group and Continental Advisors SA are suing Twitter for secondary market fraud. The securities lawsuit comes right before the social networking company’s IPO, which is slated for this week. The investment advisor plaintiffs claim that Twitter promised them up to $289 million in shares through another financial firm to try and raise its secondary market valuation and test the market. The third firm, GSV Capital, is not a defendant.

Precedo and Continental claim that GSV’s co-founder and CIO Matthew Hanson reached out to them last year about an arrangement involving his firm giving them shares to market to other accredited investors. The plaintiffs say that Twitter and its legal representation, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, approved the deal. Wanting the healthy commission they expected they’d receive, the investment advisers marketed private Twitter shares to investors abroad and in the US.

Continental and Precedo say they took hundreds of millions of investor orders and collected over $4 million that was placed in an escrow account. The customers wanted exposure to pre-IPO twitter stock.

However, contend the two firms, before payments were accepted Twitter told GSV to cancel the offering, which caused Precedo and Continental to have to pay millions of dollars in lost fees while their reputation suffered. Even though GSV is the one that shut down the offering, the plaintiffs believe that Twitter was the one making the calls and that GSV didn’t have the authority to offer the shares for repurchase. They also claim that Twitter never planned to sell the shares but actually just wanted to get a sense of the demand for the stock so it could set itself up with a high secondary market valuation. Now, Continental and Precedo want $24.2 million in expenses and lost fees.

Twitter says that the lawsuit is without merit and that it never had a relationship with the two investment advisors.

Two Financial Advisers Accuse Twitter of Secondary Market Fraud, NY Times, October 30, 2013

Two Investment Firms Almost Sure They Remember Being Hired to Sell Twitter Stock, Bloomberg, October 30, 2013

More Blog Posts:
Radio Host Dave Ramsey and Financial Advisers Get Into Twitter Fight, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, June 14, 2013

Texas Securities Roundup: $10M Ponzi Scheme, Foreign Note Sale Fraud, Promissory Note Scam, and Money Laundering Lead to Indictments, Criminal Sentences, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, May 21, 2013
Two Oppenheimer Investment Advisers Settle for Over $2.8M SEC Fraud Charges Over Private Equity Fund, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, March 14, 2013 Continue Reading ›

SAC Capital Advisors to Pay $1.2B Penalty, Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading Violations

Published on: November 4, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SAC Capital Advisors is the first large Wall Street firm in a very long time to plead guilty to criminal behavior. The insider trading violations come with a $1.2 billion penalty. SAC is owned by billionaire Steve Cohen.

In addition to the fine and guilty plea, federal prosecutors in Manhattan will place the fund on probation for five years and it will no longer be allowed to manage outside investors’ money. Issuing its own statement, SAC said it is taking responsibility for the “handful” of individuals in the firm that pled guilty to insider trading and whose misconduct resulted in the fund’s liability. However, it pointed out, these men made up a “tiny fraction” of the firm and are not reflective of the 3,000 people that have worked there over the last two decades.

Cohen has not been criminally charged. However, the plea agreement is a stain on his reputation and what was once considered a stellar investment track record. The fund has posted average yearly returns of close to 30% since 1992. Now, SAC’s admission that a number of its employees traded stocks because of their access to secret information will always call his success into question.

It was just three months ago that a grand jury indicted SAC for allowing a “systematic” insider trading scam to take place for over a decade-from 1999 through 2010. Eight ex-SAC traders were charged with securities fraud. Six of them pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. The other two are about to go on trial.

Earlier this year, SAC agreed to pay federal regulators $616 million in fines over two insider trading cases. The $602 million fine was imposed upon SAC unit Intrinsic Investors because over more than $275 million in profits and losses related to insider information about an Alzheimer’s drug trial. Stocks in pharmaceutical companies Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Elan Corp. were traded. SAC unit Sigma Capital Management was ordered to pay a $14 million fine for insider trading involving Nvidia Corp. and Dell Inc. stocks. The two portfolio managers involved in these cases allegedly made profits and avoided losing trades in the tens of millions of dollars.

Still yet to be resolved is the civil action filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Cohen for this latest insider trading debacle. The regulator is accusing him of ignoring the misconduct that was taking place at SAC. The New York Times says that according to sources the SEC wants to bar Cohen from ever managing money again. (Right now, all of the fund’s investors have taken their money out of SAC-leaving about $9 billion under its management. The money primarily belongs to Cohen and his employees.)

Also, criminal authorities are continuing to investigate the billionaire and other SAC employees, and FBI agents are still looking at the hedge fund’s trading records and seeking more informants. The government has been looking into widescale insider trading allegations within the industry for some time now. Already, there have been over 70 convictions.

SAC Capital Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading, NY Times, March 15, 2013

SAC Hit With Record Insider Penalty, The Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2013

More Blog Posts:
SEC Charges SAC Capital Hedge Fund Adviser Stephen Cohen Faces With Failure to Stop Insider Trading, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, July 20, 2013
New Stream Capital LLC Hedge Fund Executives Face Criminal Securities Fraud Charges, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, February 28, 2013
Hedge Fund Manager Philip Falcone Consents to $18M Securities Fraud Settlement, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, May 16, 2013 Continue Reading ›