US lawmakers are asking government regulators some tough questions about executive compensation at investment banks. Last week, Rep Dennis Kucinich, who heads the House Oversight Committee’s Domestic Policy Subcommittee, asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether Bank of America Corp. violated federal securities laws when it did not…
Merrill Lynch & Co. must pay an investor $39.8 million in compensatory damages because of negligence on the part of one a subsidiary broker-dealer. A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel issued the award to Trustees of the Masonic Hall & Asylum Fund, which is an endowment for an Utica…
Merrill Lynch will pay $7 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission administrative charges that the investment bank neglected to protect customers whose orders were transmitted over “squawk boxes.” The penalty is the second highest fine that the SEC has imposed for cases involving Section 15(f) of the 1934 Securities…
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc has reached a $1 million settlement agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over charges that the broker-dealer misled its pension consulting clients by neglecting to disclose conflicts of interest. By agreeing to settle, Merrill Lynch is not denying or admitting wrongdoing. The…
In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Shira Scheindlin said that TGS- GS-NOPEC Geophysical Co failed to convince the court that the institutional investor would suffer irreparable harm if Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. continues redeeming clients’ ARS under the investment firm’s…
In Texas, a Houston judge has ruled that a would-be class securities lawsuit filed against JP Morgan Securities, Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith and a number of other defendants can move forward. The plaintiffs were investors in Superior Offshore International Inc., a company that collapsed following a failed…
Last month, Merrill Lynch & Co. reached a $550 million settlement with investors and employees over losses related to investments in subprime mortgage-backed assets. A court must approve the proposed settlements. In the securities class action case, the plaintiffs have accused Merrill Lynch of using statements on collateralized debt obligations…
Merrill Lynch & Co. is confirming that Branch Manager Joseph Mattia no longer works for the investment firm’s global wealth-management group. Mattia supervised 200 financial advisors in Merrill Lynch’s 5th Avenue office. A spokesperson for Merrill Lynch refused to provide details. CNN reports that Mattia left the firm. Investment News,…
The North American Securities Administrators Association is reminding investors to ask the investment firms that sold them any now-frozen auction-rate securities about repurchase opportunities. Following the ARS market collapse, securities regulators in 12 US states joined together to form a multi-state Task Force dedicated to finding out whether Wall Street…
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. and a number of its workers have won an arbitration dispute filed by a couple that invested in a money market mutual fund. In U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge George Daniels confirmed the award. Konstantinos Karetsos and…