Ambac Assurance Corp., a mortgage insurance company, claims that not only did JP Morgan Chase & Co. resist repurchasing loans from Bear Stears-created bonds, but also, it demanded that a lender buy back the bad mortgages. Ambac made the claim in a proposed amended securities lawsuit against Bear Stear’s EMC…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Forrest Fontana with violating Rule 105 of Regulation M and illegally making more than $1 million. The rule prohibits investors from taking part in public offerings when they have shorted the same securities. Fontana, who allegedly violated the rule three times, helped…
Even though former Oppenheimer manager James F. Dever won a $74,000 award over his dismissal at the brokerage firm in private arbitration, he has pushed to have the records from the case made public. Dever contends that he was fired because he cooperated with the state in its probe of…
Many financial firms settled claims filed by those defrauded in the Enron debacle. Meanwhile, many more Enron securities fraud cases have been dismissed by a court system riddled with special interest influence. No financial firm has been held liable and certain individuals at those firms were held liable only to…
Registered investment adviser Alexei Koval has pleaded guilty to three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud over his role in a $1 million insider trading scheme. Koval, a registered investment adviser, allegedly acted on tips about provided by his friend Igor Poteroba, an…
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and the New York State Common Retirement Fund have settled the latter’s securities fraud lawsuit accusing Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. of concealing the risks involved in investing in the subprime mortgage market. Under the terms of the settlement, Bank of America, which owns Merrill…
The Texas Court of Appeals has reinstated the Texas Securities Act control person claims against Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. related to its former broker Terry Christopher Bounds’s allegedly fraudulent outside sales transactions. According to the appeals court, Bounds, who owned two “outside” direct-marketing corporations, solicited David Fernea,…
According to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, investors of the municipal bond market can expect expect more bankruptcies. He spoke at the investment bank’s annual healthcare conference and called for those investing in the $2.9 trillion public dept market to be cautious. Dimon is…
The Charles Schwab Corp. has agreed to settle for $119 million Securities and Exchange Commission securities fraud charges that it misled investors about the risks involved in its Schwab YieldPlus Fund. By agreeing to settle, Schwab is not denying or admitting wrongdoing. In 2008, the YieldPlus Fund dropped to $1.8…
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan says it won’t be remanding the securities fraud lawsuit accusing UBS Securities LLC and related entities of inducing two Detroit pension plans into taking an equity position in a collateralized loan obligation and then breaching their fiduciary duties through the…