Corporate & Securities Law

SNSFE Investigates ERISA Claims Versus Lehman Brothers For Imprudent Investments In Company Stock For Lehman Brothers' Employees

Posted on June 27, 2008
SNSFE attorneys are investigating potential claims against Lehman Brothers Holding (NYSE: LEH) for violations of ERISA. The investigation involves investments in the Lehman Brothers Savings Plan and whether Lehman Brothers and other administrators of the Plan might have breached their...

SEC Faults Next Financial Group For Violating Privacy Laws In Helping Financial Advisers Transition To Firm

Posted on June 26, 2008
Next Financial Group has been ordered by an SEC administrative-law judge to pay a $125,000 penalty as well as cease and desist from any recruiting tactics that violate privacy laws -- known in the industry as Reg S-P. In his...

SEC Reveals Information To Help Financial Services Firms Survive A Compliance Examination

Posted on June 25, 2008
In a recent speech entitled, "Frequently-Asked Questions About SEC Examinations", Lori Richards, Director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, shared helpful information for financial services firms. Ms. Richards answered the following questions: will my firm be examined;...

SNSFE Continues To Investigate Bear Stearns High Grade Structured Credit Strategies Hedge Funds, As Portfolio Managers Indicted For Fraud And Conspiracy

Posted on June 24, 2008
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged two former Bear Stearns Asset Management portfolio managers for fraudulently misleading investors about the financial state of the firm's two largest hedge funds and their exposure to subprime mortgage-backed securities before the collapse...

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SEC Adds Fraud Charges Against Executives At Sentinel Management Group

Posted on June 24, 2008
The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that is has charged two former Sentinel Management Group executives, Eric Bloom and Charles Mosley, for their roles in devising and carrying out a fraud that has resulted in several hundred million dollars...

FINRA Steps In To Caution Firms Not To Thwart Customers' Efforts To Liquidate Their Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on June 19, 2008
FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, should be given credit for stepping in to prevent a practice that was reported in Bloomberg.coma few weeks ago. In that article, Bank of America, UBS, AG, Wachovia Corp. and at least four dozen...

SNSFE Investigates Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond Fund

Posted on June 19, 2008
A class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on behalf of purchasers of the Fidelity Ultra-Short Bond Fund who purchased the fund between June 6, 2005 and June 5, 2008....

Schwab May Settle YieldPlus Mutual Fund Class-Action Litigation

Posted on June 16, 2008
Charles Schwab may pay about $260 million to win public-relations points by settling investors' claims over losses in a bond fund with subprime holdings. The San Francisco-based company is accused in eight proposed class-action suits of misleading investors by describing...

SEC Investigates The Falcon Strategies LLC Hedge Fund Redemption Offer By Citigroup

Posted on June 16, 2008
Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, has said that the Securities and Exchange Commission has requested records relating to the firm's hedge funds as part of an informal inquiry. Citigroup disclosed the review in a document filed May 28...

Documents Show UBS Knew About Risks Of Auction-Rate Securities But Cautioned Only Some Of Its Clients As Other Clients Purchased Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on June 13, 2008
The latest news in the auction-rate securities debacle is that UBS Financial Services might have known as early as December that a segment of the municipal bond business was in trouble, but the Wall Street firm kept selling the investments...

SNSFE Continuing Its Investigation Of Harbor Financial Services And James Kleinkopf Of Mobile, AL

Posted on June 13, 2008
SNSFE securities attorneys are continuing their investigation of Harbor Financial Services and its registered representative, James Kleinkopf of Mobile, Alabama for excessive trading and unsuitable investments in the account of at least one elderly person...

Securities Regulator Urges Great Caution In Using 401(k) Debit Cards

Posted on June 10, 2008
Many Americans tap into their retirement savings before they retire, potentially harming their efforts to provide for a financially secure future according to a recent Investor Alert issued by FINRA. With the advent of a recent product, the 401(k) debit...

Auction-Rate Securities Failures Due In Part To Lack Of DisclosureThat Financial Services Firms Sometimes Have Had To Intervene In Auctions Just To Prop Up Auctions According To SEC Official

Posted on June 10, 2008
The collapse of the roughly $330 billion auction-rate securities market this year was fueled by a lack of transparency and may have been avoided if investors had a comprehensive source for disclosures that showed the extent to which successful auctions...

Auction-Rate Securities Failures Due In Part To Lack Of DisclosureThat Financial Services Firms Sometimes Have Had To Intervene In Auctions Just To Prop Up Auctions According To SEC Official

Posted on June 10, 2008
The collapse of the roughly $330 billion auction-rate securities market this year was fueled by a lack of transparency and may have been avoided if investors had a comprehensive source for disclosures that showed the extent to which successful auctions...

SEC Reveals ?Top 10? Compliance Issues for Investment Advisers

Posted on June 03, 2008
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed its current examination priorities for investment advisers. Speaking before the 10th Annual IA Compliance Best Practices Summit, Lori Richards, Director of the SEC?s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, detailed the ?Top...

SEC Reveals ???Top 10??? Compliance Issues for Investment Advisers

Posted on June 03, 2008
Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed its current examination priorities for investment advisers. Speaking before the 10th Annual IA Compliance Best Practices Summit, Lori Richards, Director of the SEC???s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, detailed the ???Top...

SNSFE Investigates LPL Broker Stephen Walker For Failed Aspen Exploration Investments

Posted on May 30, 2008
Lawyers at SNSFE are investigating financial adviser Stephen Walker of Rock Island, Illinois. Walker, who has been temporarily banned from selling investment securities in the state, used to be an investment adviser for Linsco Private Ledger. He maintained an office...

More Bad News For Auction-Rate Securities Market

Posted on May 30, 2008
There has been more bad news in the auction-rate securities market. First, according to a study of earnings reports conducted by securities-valuation firm Pluris Valuation Advisors LLC, 402 public companies disclosed that they held variations of auction-rate securities...

SNSFE Investigates LPL Broker Stephen Walker For Failed Aspen Exploration Investments

Posted on May 30, 2008
Lawyers at SNSFE are investigating financial adviser Stephen Walker of Rock Island, Illinois. Walker, who has been temporarily banned from selling investment securities in the state, used to be an investment adviser for Linsco Private Ledger. He maintained an office...

J.P. Morgan Analyst Paints Bleak Picture For Investors In Student Loan Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on May 29, 2008
News continues to be most bleak for those who were sold student loan auction-rate securities. Last month, a research report issued by J.P. Morgan credit analyst Alex Roever said, "We think it is highly unlikely SLARS issuers will call or...

300 Companies Struggling Over Auction-Rate Securities With One-Half Of Them So Far Reporting Losses Totaling $1.8 Billion

Posted on May 28, 2008
Auction-rate securities woes continue. More than 300 companies are struggling to value auction-rate bonds after dealers battered by subprime-related losses abandoned the $330 billion market in February. About half of the companies reported losses totaling $1...

300 Companies Struggling Over Auction-Rate Securities With One-Half Of Them So Far Reporting Losses Totaling $1.8 Billion

Posted on May 28, 2008
Auction-rate securities woes continue. More than 300 companies are struggling to value auction-rate bonds after dealers battered by subprime-related losses abandoned the $330 billion market in February. About half of the companies reported losses totaling $1...

SNSFE Investigating Massive Fraud Perpetrated By American Elder Group, John Tencza, Michael E. Kelly and Others

Posted on May 27, 2008
The Securities and Exchange Commission has convinced a District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to enter an order permanently enjoining John Tencza, of Meridian, Idaho and formerly of Scottsdale, Arizona, as well as American Elder Group, L...

Investors Beware As Bank Of America And RBC Dain Rauscher Added To The List Of Firms Sued In Class Actions Over Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on May 23, 2008
Previously, we've cautioned investors to monitor class actions because they may be unsuitable for most investors who have invested several thousands of dollars in those investments. We've added a few names to the list since our last publication. Bank of...

SNSFE Investigating Wachovia's Firing Of Its Financial Specialists At Banks Over Customer Checking Accounts

Posted on May 23, 2008
SNSFE is investigating claims of financial specialists who Wachovia Bank fired recently. Acting on a tip, SNSFE has learned that Wachovia Bank fired employees after they had given customers what Wachovia had offered to them for free, mainly -- accounts...

Plug Power Sues UBS As Auction-Rate Securities Woes, Failed Auctions And Big Discounts On Redemptions Continue

Posted on May 22, 2008
Auction-rate securities continue to trouble investors. According to Bloomberg data, failures in the auction-rate preferred share market, which are sold by mutual funds, and debt sold by student loan providers, continue to run at about a 99 percent failure rate...

SNSFE Issues Warning To Investors Who May Be Trapped In A Class Action Relating To Schwab YieldPlus Fund Select Shares And Schwab YieldPlus Investor Shares

Posted on May 22, 2008
SNSFE is issuing a warning to investors to beware of a pending class action concerning Schwab YieldPlus Fund Select Shares and the Schwab YieldPlus Investor Shares. SNSFE is investigating those funds and the investigation centers on the allegations that Charles...

J.P. Morgan Analyst Paints Bleak Picture For Investors In Student Loan Auction-Rate Securities

Posted on May 22, 2008
News continues to be most bleak for those who were sold student loan auction-rate securities. Last month, a research report issued by J.P. Morgan credit analyst Alex Roever said, "We think it is highly unlikely SLARS issuers will call or...

Plug Power Sues UBS As Auction-Rate Securities Woes, Failed Auctions And Big Discounts On Redemptions Continue

Posted on May 22, 2008
Auction-rate securities continue to trouble investors. According to Bloomberg data, failures in the auction-rate preferred share market, which are sold by mutual funds, and debt sold by student loan providers, continue to run at about a 99 percent failure rate...

SNSFE Issues Warning To Investors Who May Be Trapped In A Class Action Relating To Schwab YieldPlus Fund Select Shares And Schwab YieldPlus Investor Shares

Posted on May 22, 2008
SNSFE is issuing a warning to investors to beware of a pending class action concerning Schwab YieldPlus Fund Select Shares and the Schwab YieldPlus Investor Shares. SNSFE is investigating those funds and the investigation centers on the allegations that Charles...

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