Joseph Hirko, the ex-Enron Broadband Chief Executive Officer, has been sentenced to a prison term of 16 months for Texas securities fraud. Hirko pleaded guilty to wire fraud a year ago for giving out false information to improve Enron’s financial figures. The former Enron Broadband CEO and others knew that…
Charles Schwab Corp. has received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission about possible civil charges related to the discount brokerage’s Schwab Total Bond Market Fund and Schwab YieldPlus Fund. Schwab has been the target of regulatory investigations over the two funds and is a defendant in a…
Investors who invested into YieldPlus Funds issued by the Charles Schwab Corp. must take immediate action to avoid being limited in recovery to the amount obtained through a class action suit. Many with significant losses have been advised by attorneys to seek individual recovery in Securities Arbitration through the Financial…
Citigroup, Inc. has agreed to pay a $600,000 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fine to settle claims that its alleged inadequate supervision of certain derivative transactions between 2002 and 2005 allowed a number of foreign clients to avoid paying taxes on dividends. The way this allegedly worked is that during a…
The North American Securities Administrators Association has updated its best practices for investment advisers. The best practices were developed after a series of exams revealed several problem areas. 458 state-level investment advisers took part in examinations between January and May 2009. Some 1,887 deficiencies in 13 compliance areas, including the…
According to an external audit of the SEC Office of Administrative Services’ Office of Acquisitions (OA), there exists “significant risk areas” that could affect operation and lead to improper accounting of federal resources. OA is responsible for the SEC’s contracting and procurement functions. Shortfalls revealed included: • Failure to submit…
House Financial Services subcommittee chair Paul Kanjorski introduced a new draft bill that proposes making credit ratings agencies collectively liable for inaccuracies. The agencies received a lot of heat when they failed to properly warn investors about the risks associated with subprime mortgage securities before the market fell. One problem…
A judge has ordered a former Merrill Lynch employee, San Antonio stockbroker Bruce E. Hammonds, to serve almost five years in prison and three years supervised release for Texas securities fraud. Bruce E. Hammonds also must pay $1.1 million in restitution to the Merrill Lynch investors he defrauded and almost…
The Colorado Securities Division is suing Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. for securities fraud. State regulators are accusing the broker-dealer of making false assurances to investors about auction-rate securities. In its Colorado securities fraud complaint, the securities division accused Stifel Nifel, Nicolaus of violating the Colorado Securities Act by allowing investors…
The Indiana Secretary of State’s Office filed an administrative complaint today accusing Stifel Nicolaus & Co.’s local office of securities fraud, failing to properly train members of its sales team, and failing to disclose risks associated with purchasing auction-rate securities. As a result, some 141 Hoosiers who had invested $54.0…