According to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, federal law preempts would-be class claims accusing Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC of having insider trading detection and deterrent policies that are illegal under California labor and unfair competition statutes. The court says that “conflict preemption” precludes the…
Articles Posted in Financial Firms
JP Morgan Settles for $153.6M SEC Charges Over Its Marketing of Synthetic Collateralized Debt Obligation
J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPM) has consented to pay $153.6 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it misled investors in 2007 when it marketed a synthetic collateralized debt obligation that was linked to the US housing market. The financial firm also agreed to a permanent bar from…
Credit Suisse Ordered to Pay STMicroelectronics N.V. $404M Over Improper ARS Investment
In STMicroelectronics N.V. v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, 2d Cir., No. 10-3847-cv, 6/2/11, the US U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld an arbitration panel’s award against Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC for $405 million. The financial firm was accused of improperly investing STMicroelectronics N.V. (STM)’s money…
MBIA Can Sue Morgan Stanley Over Alleged Misrepresentation of MBS Risks, Says US New York Supreme Court
In MBIA Insurance Corp. v. Morgan Stanley, N.Y. Sup.Ct., No. 29951-10, the New York Supreme Court says that insurance company MBIA can sue Morgan Stanley and affiliates Saxon Mortgage Services Inc. and Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC for alleged misrepresentations about the risks involved in insuring residential mortgages that…
Ex-Morgan Stanley Trader to Settle SEC Unauthorized Swaps Trading Claims for $150,000
Larry Feinblum, an ex-Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. (MS) trader, has consented to settle for $150,000 SEC allegations that he hid from risk managers the true extent of risk involved in certain proprietary trading. This move caused the financial firm to suffer about $24.47 million in losses when it unwound…
SEC Examining Whether Goldman Sachs Violated Bribery Laws When Dealing with Libya’s Sovereign-Wealth Fund
According to the Wall Street Journal, the SEC is trying to figure out whether Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and a number of other financial firms were in violation of bribery laws because of the way they handled Libya’s sovereign-wealth fund. SEC enforcement lawyers are now looking at documents detailing these…
David Lerner & Associates Ignored Suitability of REITs When Recommending to Investors, Claims FINRA
FINRA has filed securities charges against David Lerner & Associates, Inc. accusing the broker-dealer of not taking into account suitability when soliciting vulnerable investors-in particular, elderly clients, to buy shares in the non-traded, $2B Apple REIT Ten offering. The SRO is also accusing the broker-dealer of posting misleading information online…
Northern Trust Securities Agrees to $600,000 FINRA Fine Over Charges It Failed to Properly Monitor High-Volume Securities Trades and CMO Sales
Northern Trust Securities has consented to pay a $600,000 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fine over securities charges accusing it of failing to supervise collateralized mortgage obligation sales and lacking the systems set up to properly monitor certain high-volume securities trades. FINRA contends that the alleged actions by the broker-dealer exposed…
District Court in Texas Decides that Credit Suisse Securities Doesn’t Have to pay Additional $186,000 Arbitration Award to Luby’s Restaurant Over ARS
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has ruled that Credit Suisse Securities shouldn’t have to pay Luby’s Restaurants another $186,000 as part of its arbitration to the investor. The case is Luby’s Restaurants LP v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC. Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Founder…
District Court Wants to Know Why FINRA Arbitration Panel Denied Freecharm Ltd.’s Securities Fraud Claim Against One Atlas Financial Group LLC
Judge Marcia G. Cooke of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida is asking why a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel denied Freecharm Ltd.’s breach of fiduciary duty and fraud claims against Atlas One Financial Group LLC. Cooke wants to know about the panel’s reasoning so…