Corporate & Securities Law

Ameriprise Financial Nailed In Fraudulent Scheme To Obtain And To Conceal Undisclosed Compensation For Selling REITs To Customers

Posted on July 15, 2009
The SEC announced an enforcement action against Minneapolis-based broker-dealer Ameriprise Financial Services, for receiving millions of dollars in undisclosed compensation as a condition for offering and selling certain real estate investment trusts (REITs) to its brokerage customers...

Ameriprise Financial Nailed In Fraudulent Scheme To Obtain And To Conceal Undisclosed Compensation For Selling REITs To Customers

Posted on July 13, 2009
The SEC announced an enforcement action against Minneapolis-based broker-dealer Ameriprise Financial Services, for receiving millions of dollars in undisclosed compensation as a condition for offering and selling certain real estate investment trusts (REITs) to its brokerage customers...

SNSFE Investigates Gregory Bell And Lancelot Management As The SEC Files Fraud Charges Alleging A $2 Billion Feeder Fraud

Posted on July 13, 2009
The SEC announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against a Highland Park, IL-based hedge fund manager and his firm for facilitating a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme operated by Minnesota businessman Thomas Petters. The SEC's complaint, filed in U...

SNSFE Investigating Provident Royalties Fraud And Brokerage Firms That Sold Those Securities As SEC Obtains Asset Freeze

Posted on July 08, 2009
SNSFE attorneys are investigating Provident Royalties, LLC after the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency asset freeze. The SEC alleges a $485 million offering fraud and Ponzi scheme orchestrated by three Dallas businessmen through Provident Royalties...

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SNSFE Investigating Provident Royalties Fraud And Brokerage Firms That Sold Those Securities As SEC Obtains Asset Freeze

Posted on July 08, 2009
SNSFE attorneys are investigating Provident Royalties, LLC after the Securities and Exchange Commission obtained an emergency asset freeze. The SEC alleges a $485 million offering fraud and Ponzi scheme orchestrated by three Dallas businessmen through Provident Royalties...

SEC Informs State Street Bank And Trust Co. That It Could Face Charges For Securities Violations Tied To Investments In Sub-Prime Mortgages

Posted on July 01, 2009
State Street Corp. disclosed on Monday in a regulatory filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission could bring civil charges against its main subsidiary for possible securities violations tied to past investments in subprime mortgages. State Street Bank and Trust...

SEC Informs State Street Bank And Trust Co. That It Could Face Charges For Securities Violations Tied To Investments In Sub-Prime Mortgages

Posted on July 01, 2009
State Street Corp. disclosed on Monday in a regulatory filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission could bring civil charges against its main subsidiary for possible securities violations tied to past investments in subprime mortgages. State Street Bank and Trust...

SNSFE Investigating Michael Regan And Regan & Company Of Massachusetts Following SEC Ponzi Scheme Fraud Charges

Posted on June 26, 2009
SEC charges Massachusetts-based money manager in multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. The SEC alleges that Michael Regan and his firm Regan & Company fraudulently obtained at least $15.9 million from dozens of investors nationwide by selling securities in his now defunct...

SNSFE Investigating Michael Regan And Regan & Company Of Massachusetts Following SEC Ponzi Scheme Fraud Charges

Posted on June 26, 2009
SEC charges Massachusetts-based money manager in multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. The SEC alleges that Michael Regan and his firm Regan & Company fraudulently obtained at least $15.9 million from dozens of investors nationwide by selling securities in his now defunct...

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro Outlines Improvements To Investor Protection And Market Integrity

Posted on June 16, 2009
Chairman Mary Schapiro recently testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on the ways in which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking to restore investor confidence. Her remarks come at a time when both...

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro Outlines Improvements To Investor Protection And Market Integrity

Posted on June 16, 2009
Chairman Mary Schapiro recently testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on the ways in which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking to restore investor confidence. Her remarks come at a time when both...

SNSFE Continuing To Investigate As New Hampshire Securities Regulator Sues UBS Over Sales Of Principal Protected Notes

Posted on June 12, 2009
The New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation has filed a Cease and Desist order against UBS Financial Services alleging unfair sales practices and unsatisfactory supervisory procedures and for recommending unsuitable investments to more than 40 New Hampshire investors...

SNSFE Continuing To Investigate As New Hampshire Securities Regulator Sues UBS Over Sales Of Principal Protected Notes

Posted on June 12, 2009
The New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation has filed a Cease and Desist order against UBS Financial Services alleging unfair sales practices and unsatisfactory supervisory procedures and for recommending unsuitable investments to more than 40 New Hampshire investors...

A Primer On CFP Board's Ethical Standards And Enforcement Process

Posted on June 08, 2009
Recently I had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion before an audience of financial planners to address customer complaint issues. One of my co-panelists, Michael P. Shaw, CFP Board?s Managing Director of Professional Review and Legal, discussed CFP...

A Primer On CFP Board's Ethical Standards And Enforcement Process

Posted on June 08, 2009
Recently I had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion before an audience of financial planners to address customer complaint issues. One of my co-panelists, Michael P. Shaw, CFP Board?s Managing Director of Professional Review and Legal, discussed CFP...

SNSFE Investigates James Putnam And Wealth Management LLC Of Wisconsin Following Charges Of Fraud And Kickbacks Filed By The SEC

Posted on June 01, 2009
A past NAPFA President has been charged in a kickback scheme. A former president of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors has been charged with taking kickbacks from unregistered investment pools in which his Wisconsin advisory firm placed $102...

SNSFE Investigates James Putnam And Wealth Management LLC Of Wisconsin Following Charges Of Fraud And Kickbacks Filed By The SEC

Posted on June 01, 2009
A past NAPFA President has been charged in a kickback scheme. A former president of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors has been charged with taking kickbacks from unregistered investment pools in which his Wisconsin advisory firm placed $102...

FINRA Proposes Significant Changes To Suitability And Know-Your-Customer Rules

Posted on May 22, 2009
Recently, securities regulators proposed to revise the Suitability and Know Your Customer obligations. In Regulatory Notice 09-25, FINRA is proposing to add a great deal more to Suitability and Know Your Customer obligations. Specifically, under the revised Rules: A member...

SEC's Sanction Against Royal Alliance For Failure To Detect Adviser's Ponzi Scheme Provides Valuable Lessons To Investors And Advisers

Posted on May 18, 2009
The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has censured Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. and fined it $500,000 due to its failure to supervise one of its former advisers, David McMillan. From at least January 1999 until December 2004, McMillan was able...

SEC's Sanction Against Royal Alliance For Failure To Detect Adviser's Ponzi Scheme Provides Valuable Lessons To Investors And Advisers

Posted on May 18, 2009
The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has censured Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. and fined it $500,000 due to its failure to supervise one of its former advisers, David McMillan. From at least January 1999 until December 2004, McMillan was able...

Morgan Keegan Faces Possible SEC Action Over Its Failure To Disclose Risks Associated With Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on May 15, 2009
Regions Financial may face SEC charges. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may launch a civil proceeding against the Morgan Keegan & Co. brokerage unit of Regions Financial Corp. In its quarterly report filed with the SEC, Regions said the...

SEC Charges Attorneys And Others In Connection With Issuing Bogus Rule 144 Opinion Letters As Part Of A Legal Opinion Mill

Posted on May 11, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged attorneys for fraudulent legal opinions used by promoters in Pump-and-Dump scheme: The SEC alleges that attorneys Albert Rasch, Jr. and Kathleen Novinger together with Sandra Masino and her company 144 Opinions, Inc...

SEC's Mary Schapiro Finds Target Date Funds' Returns Troubling And Outlines SEC's Response To The Problem

Posted on May 08, 2009
Recently, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro addressed the Mutual Fund Directors Forum Ninth Annual Policy Conference. Ms. Schapiro commented that investor confidence has been deeply shaken, and that restoration of investor confidence is an essential element to moving the nation's economy...

SEC's Mary Schapiro Finds Target Date Funds' Returns Troubling And Outlines SEC's Response To The Problem

Posted on May 08, 2009
Recently, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro addressed the Mutual Fund Directors Forum Ninth Annual Policy Conference. Ms. Schapiro commented that investor confidence has been deeply shaken, and that restoration of investor confidence is an essential element to moving the nation's economy...

SNSFE Investigates Reserve Primary Fund As SEC Files Fraud Action Against The Fund And Its Officers For Providing Misleading Information

Posted on May 06, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged operators of the Reserve Primary Fund with fraud. The Reserve Primary Fund "broke the buck" on Sept. 16, 2008, when its net asset value fell below $1 per share, meaning investors in the...

SNSFE Investigates Reserve Primary Fund As SEC Files Fraud Action Against The Fund And Its Officers For Providing Misleading Information

Posted on May 06, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged operators of the Reserve Primary Fund with fraud. The Reserve Primary Fund "broke the buck" on Sept. 16, 2008, when its net asset value fell below $1 per share, meaning investors in the...

Texas Instruments Joins Other Institutional Investors In Suing Investment Banks Over Auction-Rate Securities Purchases

Posted on April 29, 2009
Texas Instruments has sued Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. for selling it $524 million in auction-rate securities which the company says it cannot liquidate. The auction-rate securities market, once valued at $330 billion, collapsed in...

Texas Instruments Joins Other Institutional Investors In Suing Investment Banks Over Auction-Rate Securities Purchases

Posted on April 29, 2009
Texas Instruments has sued Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. for selling it $524 million in auction-rate securities which the company says it cannot liquidate. The auction-rate securities market, once valued at $330 billion, collapsed in...

SNSFE Investigates The SEC's Sanctioning Of Hennessee Group For Its Failure To Conduct Adequate Due Diligence, To Monitor And To Otherwise Protect Clients From The Bayou Fraud

Posted on April 24, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it has charged New York-based investment adviser Hennessee Group and its principal Charles Gradante with securities law violations for failing to perform their advertised review and analysis before recommending that their clients...

SNSFE Investigates The SEC's Sanctioning Of Hennessee Group For Its Failure To Conduct Adequate Due Diligence, To Monitor And To Otherwise Protect Clients From The Bayou Fraud

Posted on April 24, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that it has charged New York-based investment adviser Hennessee Group and its principal Charles Gradante with securities law violations for failing to perform their advertised review and analysis before recommending that their clients...

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