Investor Lawyers Blog

GunnAllen Financial Settles FINRA Charges Over the Firm’s Alleged Involvement in Trade Allocations

Published on: May 14, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

GunnAllen Financial Inc. has settled Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charges that it was allegedly involved in a trade allocation scheme, in addition to several reporting, anti-money laundering, supervisory, and recordkeeping deficiencies. The trade allocation scheme was allegedly conducted by Alexis J. Rivera, the former head trader at GunnAllen.

FINRA says that in 2002 and 2003 and acting through Rivera, GunnAllen participated in a “cherry picking” scam. Rivera took profitable stock trades and put them into his wife’s personal account instead of GunnAllen customer accounts. Rivera allegedly made over $270,000 in illegal profits.

The ex-trader has been barred from FINRA. The trade allocation scheme violated FINRA rules and the federal securities laws’ anti-fraud provisions. Rivera’s supervisor, Kelley McMahon, has agreed to a six-month suspension from taking part in a principal role with any FINRA-registered company. She has also agreed to a $25,000 fine.

UBS To Pay Massachusetts Municipalities Over $35 Million for Auction-Rate Securities Losses

Published on: May 11, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

UBS Financial Services Inc. and UBS Securities LLC, both units of UBS AG, have agreed to pay 19 Massachusetts public agencies and local governments over $35 million for their losses in the auction-rate securities market. The sum represents the return of principal payments by the municipalities.

The settlement agreement follows a probe by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office into accusations that the two UBS units misled the local entities by convincing them that the investments were low-risk enough that they were allowable for towns and cities under Massachusetts law.

According to a UBS spokesperson, the investment bank agrees that the auction-rate securities investments are not in fact permissible under this law. The spokesperson said that the repayment and agreement with the Massachusetts entities only apply because of this specific law.

Wachovia Securities LLC Sued For Alleged Fraud Involving the Sale of Le Nature’s Senior Subordinated Notes

Published on: May 9, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In Los Angeles Superior Court, a number of life insurance companies, mutual funds, retirement systems, and other investors are suing Wachovia Securities LLC for alleged fraud related to the sale of senior subordinated notes for beverage maker Le Nature’s Inc. The Pennsylvania-based company filed for bankruptcy in 2006.

Causes of action include fraud, negligent misrepresentation, aiding and abetting fraud, and fraudulent inducement. California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the Nature Conservancy are among the scores of plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are accusing Wachovia of knowing about the fraud and financial problems at Le Nature’s but keeping this information from investors so that the beverage company would keep paying the firm substantial fees. They say the lack of disclosure also helped Wachovia’s high-yield debt business.

Are Investment Banks Taking the Necessary Steps to End the Auction-Rate Securities Crisis?

Published on: May 6, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

More than 80 days into the auction-rate securities crisis, about $300 billion

in investor funds continue to remain inaccessible. It is important to note that taxpayers, in addition to investors, are suffering in this frozen market because the municipal issuers (including schools, towns, highway authorities, and other entities) of auction notes are being asked to pay up to help restructure and redeem the debt.

$78 billion in auction-rate securities-many of them involving municipal notes that come with high interest penalty rates-are expected to be redeemed. Investors with remaining issues, however, aren’t us lucky.

Ex-WFG Investment Stockbroker Accused of Allegedly Defrauding Over 500 Senior Investors Agrees To Disgorge Ill-Gotten Earnings

Published on: May 5, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Sidney Mondschein, a former WFG Investment stockbroker, must disgorge $53,000 in ill-gotten gains he allegedly obtained when he defrauded over 500 senior investors by selling their confidential data to insurance brokers. Last month, Mondschein settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

By settling, the SEC says that the former broker is not admitting to or denying the charges. As part of his agreement, Mondschein agreed to a bar preventing him from associating with any dealers or brokers for five years. He is also permanently enjoined from violating the 1934 Securities Exchange Act’s Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5, as well as Regulation S-P. He must also pay a $45,000 penalty.

The SEC complaint has alleged that Mondschein illegally sold for profit the confidential data of over 500 clients, almost all of them senior citizens, to six insurance agents. Information included contact information and, sometimes, the dollar figure that an investor had spent on the last annuity. This sale allowed the insurance brokers to sell the investors more annuity products, even though the majority of them already had purchased equity-indexed or fixed annuities.

Ex-Southwest Brokers Found Liable for Concealing Market Timing Trades

Published on: April 30, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas says that two ex-Southwest Securities Inc. brokers acted fraudulently when they purposely tried to circumvent policies designed to prevent market timing trades. The Securities and Exchange Commission had brought the case against the two men.

The brokers were aleged to have violated Act’s Section 10(b) and Rule 10b-5.

The court also found one culpable under the act’s antifraud provisions and ordered him to disgorge $56,640.67 in commissions. The court also ordered a $50,000 civil penalty and granted the SEC’s request for injunctive relief.

AARP Financial Inc. Survey Says Investors Find Financial Lingo “Technical and Confusing”

Published on: April 28, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

An AARP Financial Inc. survey says that many U.S. investors make investment errors and miss out on opportunities to invest because they find financial jargon confusing, technical, and hard to understand. GfK Custom Research North America of New York interviewed 1,203 adults by phone for the survey.

Findings included:

*Over 52% of respondents said they made an investment mistake because they did not understand or were confused about the investment.

NASAA Says State Regulators Continue To Investigating Auction-Rate Securities Problems Affecting Investors

Published on: April 24, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The North American Securities Administrators Association announced that a number of its members are continuing to probe complaints about auction-rate securities (ARS). They are also coordinating efforts to help investors whose money was placed by brokers in these complex investment products get access to their funds.

An ARS Task Force, comprised of state securities regulators from Massachusetts, Illinois, Florida, Missouri, Georgia, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Texas, and Washington all working in their individual jurisdictions, is investigating these ARS-related complaints.

NASAA President Karen Tyler, also North Dakota’s securities commissioner, says that regulators will seek the proper remedies to any violation. Tyler says that task force members are focused on determining whether any broker violations, including omission and misrepresentation, took place during the point of sale. She also stressed the securities regulators’ commitment to making sure that investors can access their funds.

U.S. Representative Barney Frank Calls on SEC to Widen Investigation of Improper Trading Rumors Surrounding Bear Stearns’s Stock

Published on: April 21, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

U.S. Representative Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission to expand its probe into whether any improper trading in investment banks’ shares has recently taken place. He wants the SEC to determine whether the rumors of misconduct are being circulated to drive certain investment banks, such as Bear Stearns, out of business.

In a letter addressed to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, Frank noted that there had been an “unusually high level of short-selling activity” in Bear Stearns stock right before the company fell apart. He also noted that similar trading in the stocks of other large investment banks has occurred.

Frank cited concerns that some of this trading may be orchestrated by market participants that are trying to bring the share prices down. Frank is calling on the SEC to investigate trading activity of stocks in all the big investment banks.

Ex-Assent LLC Broker Pleads Guilty to Concealing Insider Trading Activities

Published on: April 17, 2008 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 10, ex-Assent LLC registered broker Samuel Childs pled guilty to a conspiracy charge to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and commercial bribery for agreeing to receive $100,000 in exchange for concealing insider trading activities from Assent senior executives. In court, Childs, 35, announced that he was 100% guilty.

This case is part of a broader criminal probe involving 13 people that have pled guilty to a massive insider trading scheme involving data they acquired from Wall Street brokerage companies. Defendants included ex-employees from Morgan Stanley, UBS AG, Bear Stearns Co, and Bank of America Corp.

The Justice Department says that one of the defendants, former UBS Securities executive Mitchel Guttenburg, had sold nonpublic data prepared by UBS stock analysts to another defendant, trader David Tavdy.