Corporate & Securities Law

SNSFE Investigating Massachusetts Hedge Fund River Stream And Its Manager Michael Regan

Posted on May 20, 2008
SNSFE is investigating a Massachusetts hedge fund manager. Massachusetts' top securities regulator, William Galvin, on Monday charged a hedge fund manager, who had promised to earn as much as 20 percent for his clients, with improperly soliciting investors...

SNSFE Investigating Implosion Of Bear Stearns High Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund And Its Managers

Posted on May 20, 2008
Lawyers at SNSFE are investigating the Bear Stearns High Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund, as well as Ralph Cioffi, Jr. and Matthew Tannin. Bear Stearns recently disclosed that the events leading up to the demise of the Bear Stearns High...

Posted on May 20, 2008

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

Posted on May 20, 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...

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

Posted on May 20, 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...

Key Guidance On Hedge Fund Investing

Posted on May 16, 2008
On Tuesday, May 13th, I presented Key Guidance On Hedge Fund Investing, a webinar highlighting important information contained in the "Report of the Investors' Committee to the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, Principles and Best Practices for Hedge Fund...

Investors Should Avoid Exchange-Traded Notes

Posted on May 15, 2008
Investors need to avoid exchange-traded notes according to columnist John Waggoner of USA Today. It's good advice. Wall Street has created a new generation of investments, called exchange-traded notes, or ETNs, and they go by names such as BOXES, LUNARS,...

Citigroup's Settlement Offer To Falcon And ASTA/MAT Investors May Not Be Sufficient

Posted on May 15, 2008
Recently, the Wall Street Journal ran an article focusing on Citigroup's push on hedge funds known as Falcon and ASTA/MAT. The losses by these two hedge funds are the latest examples of the credit crunch hammering retail, or individual, investors...

Investor Angst, Regulatory Probes And Litigation Intensify Over Auction Rate Securities

Posted on May 15, 2008
Investor angst concerning auction rate securities (ARS) continues, and indeed has worsened over the last few months. In May 2008, the New York Times reported that $300 billion worth of investors? funds were ?still locked up? and that 70% of...

Securities Regulator Cautions Investors To Avoid Funds Investing In Catastrophe Bonds Or Other Event-Linked Securities

Posted on May 12, 2008
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has issued an Investor Alert warning investors about the risks of speculating on natural disasters with event-linked securities, such as catastrophe bonds or "cat bonds." Cat bonds offer high yields but can quickly lose...

Regulators' Inquiries As Well As Auction-Rate Fire-Sale Discounts Increase Amid Renewed Allegations Of Collusion, Especially In the Area Of Student Loan Auction-Rates

Posted on May 06, 2008
Concerns about investor abuse in auction-rate securities continues. New York Attorney General Mr. Cuomo is joined now by at least a dozen different authorities at the state and national level investigating aspects of the $330 billion auction-rate securities market...

Managers Replaced at Poorly-Performing Regions Morgan Keegan Funds; SNSFE Continues to Investigate

Posted on May 02, 2008
The nation's two worst-performing bond-focused mutual funds over the past year are booting their in-house management in favor of outsiders. Morgan Asset Management Inc., a unit of Regions Financial Corp., announced that it had been replaced to oversee these two...

SNSFE Investigates Claims That Brokerage Firm Employees In 401(k) Plans And Other Qualified Plans Were Not Advised Of The Risk Of Owning Company Stock In Light Of Subprime And CDO Exposure

Posted on May 02, 2008
Employee plaintiffs are lining up to sue the major brokerage firms over losses in company stock. A number of proposed class actions have been filed against Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. According to the lawsuits, the companies made inadequate...

Securities Regulator Issues Warning Regarding Investors? Use of Reverse Mortgages

Posted on May 02, 2008
For many individuals, their largest asset is their home, and it is their most precious source of retirement security. Unfortunately, over the years financial advisers have convinced homeowners that they should tap into their home equity to purchase investments...

Hedge Funds, Such As Peloton Partners, Sailfish Multistrategy Fund, Tisbury Capital, Drake Capital And Polygon, Continue To Collapse

Posted on May 01, 2008
According to top industry executives, there will be more hedge fund collapses this year as many managers struggle to borrow the money they need to trade with and face investors disappointed by recent losses. "Some funds simply will not do...

SNSFE Warns That Class Actions May Not Be The Best Recourse For Purchasers Of Auction Rate Securities

Posted on April 30, 2008
News of auction-rate securities class actions being filed has concerned many securities lawyers that investors may be choosing the wrong path to pursue recovery. While sometimes some class actions are sensible for some investors, oftentimes they are not...

Schwab's YieldPlus Ultra-Short Bond Funds Continue To Suffer Along With Fidelity And State Street Global Advisors Bond Funds And Are Unlikely To Rebound

Posted on April 29, 2008
Schwab YieldPlus Fund Select Shares and Schwab YieldPlus Fund Investor Shares now are subject to an investor arbitration claim filed at FINRA. Regarding the ultra-short bond fund Shwab YieldPlus, Morningstar states that the fund's sizeable loss in recent months is...

Schwab Reportedly Offering To Settle Loss Claims Of YieldPlus Fund Investors

Posted on April 28, 2008
Charles Schwab's YieldPlus mutual funds are in the news again. This time, it is reported by attorneys that Schwab has called clients who have filed arbitration actions as well as others associated with a class action lawsuit against the company...

Edwards D. Jones Broker Awarded Damages For Emotional Distress Arising From Employment

Posted on April 25, 2008
An arbitration panel has held Edward D. Jones accountable for emotional distress inflicted upon one of its registered representatives and has awarded that former rep over $141,000 plus legal expenses. Edward D. Jones, which is widely regarded as one of...

Securities Regulator Issues Tips to Protect Financial Information

Posted on April 25, 2008
FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) has published, ?Keeping Your Account Secure: Tips for Protecting Your Financial Information." According to FINRA, identity theft has advanced well beyond ?dumpster diving? to recover discarded account statements or other records that have not...

SNSFE Announces Intention to Maintain Library of Auction-Rate Securities Materials As SEC And State Securities Regulators Continue to Investigate Possible Investor Abuse

Posted on April 23, 2008
Auction-rate securities continue to be in the news. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it was seeking information on auction-rate debt sales. According to Lori Richards, head of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, "We are...

SNSFE Announces Intention to Maintain Library of Auction-Rate Securities Materials As SEC And State Securities Regulators Continue to Investigate Possible Investor Abuse

Posted on April 23, 2008
Auction-rate securities continue to be in the news. Recently, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it was seeking information on auction-rate debt sales. According to Lori Richards, head of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, "We are...

SNSFE Investigating Citigroup's ASTA And MAT Hedge Funds As Brokers And Their Clients Considering Bolting From Citigroup

Posted on April 18, 2008
According to a recent BusinessWeek article, Citigroup, its clients and its brokers, are in the midst of several hedge fund flameouts and Citigroup is scrambling to hold on to both investors and brokers who are considering bolting from the firm....

SNSFE Investigating Citigroup's ASTA And MAT Hedge Funds As Brokers And Their Clients Considering Bolting From Citigroup

Posted on April 18, 2008
According to a recent BusinessWeek article, Citigroup, its clients and its brokers, are in the midst of several hedge fund flameouts and Citigroup is scrambling to hold on to both investors and brokers who are considering bolting from the firm....

Regulators Increase Investigations Of Auction Rate Securities As Individual Investors Might Have Been Suckered Into Buying So That Heavyweights Could Bail Out

Posted on April 17, 2008
Regulator inquiries are intensifying over auction-rate securities. This week Goldman Sachs disclosed that it has received requests for information from various governmental agencies and self-regulatory organizations relating to auction products and the recent failure of such auctions...

Regulators Increase Investigations Of Auction Rate Securities As Individual Investors Might Have Been Suckered Into Buying So That Heavyweights Could Bail Out

Posted on April 17, 2008
Regulator inquiries are intensifying over auction-rate securities. This week Goldman Sachs disclosed that it has received requests for information from various governmental agencies and self-regulatory organizations relating to auction products and the recent failure of such auctions...

New Handbook Outlines Prudent Practices For Fiduciary Advisers

Posted on April 15, 2008
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has published a handbook containing practice guidelines for "Fiduciary Advisers" as that term is defined in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The FPA states that the handbook "represents a standard of excellence for fiduciary...

ARS Woes Continue As Companies Join In Lawsuits To Recover Damages And Liquidate Securities

Posted on April 15, 2008
Auction-rate securities continue to be in the news. To date, most of the suits against broker-dealers that sold ARS have been brought by individual investors. But two companies, Miami-based Astar Air Cargo and Dallas-based MetroPCS Comunications, have each filed claims...

New Handbook Outlines Prudent Practices For Fiduciary Advisers

Posted on April 15, 2008
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has published a handbook containing practice guidelines for "Fiduciary Advisers" as that term is defined in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The FPA states that the handbook "represents a standard of excellence for fiduciary...

ARS Woes Continue As Companies Join In Lawsuits To Recover Damages And Liquidate Securities

Posted on April 15, 2008
Auction-rate securities continue to be in the news. To date, most of the suits against broker-dealers that sold ARS have been brought by individual investors. But two companies, Miami-based Astar Air Cargo and Dallas-based MetroPCS Comunications, have each filed claims...

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