UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico (UBS) has agreed to pay $26.6 million to settle the Securities and Exchange Commission administrative action accusing the financial firm of misleading investors about its control and liquidity over the secondary market for nearly two dozen proprietary closed-end mutual funds. By settling, UBS…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Jody Dunn with fraud. Dunn is accused of soliciting $3.45 million from over 7,000 deaf investors in a Texas securities scam. He is also deaf. According to the SEC, he engaged in material misrepresentations, the fraudulent and unregistered offering and selling of securities,…
A district court issued an emergency order this month to freeze the assets of Imperia Invest IBC. The order came after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the internet-based investment company of operating a securities scam involving the British version of viatical settlements. According to the SEC, Imperia Invest IBC…
The Securities and Exchange Commission staff report is recommending that the US Congress define life settlements as securities to make sure that investors of these types of transactions receive federal securities law protection. The SEC says there are several benefits to making such an amendment to securities laws: • This…
State District Court Judge Stephen Yelenosky has frozen the assets of Retirement Value LLC and appointed a receiver to take control of the New Braunfels company, which faces allegations of Texas securities fraud related to the sale of investments linked to death benefits from life insurance policies. The Texas State…
In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Kelly Gipson and Charles Jordan for allegedly orchestrating a multi-million dollar viaticals scam (in the secondary market for life insurance). On March 22, the agency said the court had granted its…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is stepping up its efforts to combat senior investment fraud. In 2010, the SEC plans to focus on issues related to retirement investments, including product development, disclosures, and marketing issues. The need to better regulate the retirement products arena and actively take action against securities…
House Financial Services capital markets subcommittee chairman Rep. Paul Kanjorski recently warned that unless “additional safeguards” are put in place, the growing securitization of life insurance settlements could lead to the next financial crisis. During a hearing on the issue, Kanjorski said regulators, Congress, and credit ratings agencies should have…
The US District Court for the Western District of Michigan says that under Oklahoma and Michigan laws, viatical settlements are securities. The court, however, did not rule on whether the instruments are securities under Texas law. Investors in a number of states had sued Trade Partners Inc. and its affiliate…
What do Bear Stearns, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Wachovia and Wells Fargo and other big securities firms have in common? No conscience. For decades we have thought that Wall Street will do anything for money. Now we are sure. Two years ago, about 250 people attended an…