The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing two ex-Morgan Stanley advisers for allegedly circumventing the market timing restrictions of 50 mutual fund companies, and, as a result, allegedly defrauding some 50 mutual fund companies. Between January 2002 and August 2003, Former advisers Darryl Goldstein and Christopher O’Donnell earned about $1…
Investor Lawyers Blog
SEC Investment Management Division Director Wants Mutual Funds to Call Their “Distribution Fee” a “Sales Charge”
The director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investment Management Division is calling for mutual funds to rename their 75 basis point “distribution fee” and call it a “sales charge”-regardless of whether the sales charge is deducted right away or over a period of time. At the Investment Company Institute’s…
Goldman Sachs Class Securities Fraud Lawsuit is Dismissed
A class securities fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs & Co. was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit had charged that a Goldman Sachs & Co. senior analyst issued false research reports with inflated projections of Exodus Communications Inc.’s financial growth on…
Citibank and Columbia University Sued for Charging College Students Extremely High Interest Rates on School Loans
A former Columbia University student is suing Citibank and Columbia University for what he is calling “modern-day slavery,” for allegedly colluding to charge unreasonably high interest rates on student loans. Brian Baxter, 57, is now a licensed psychotherapist and a social worker. He graduated from Columbia University in the 1990’s…
NASAA Calls for Voluntary Securities Arbitration System
On December 12, The North American Securities Administrators Association told the Senate Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee says that it is calling for a voluntary securities arbitration system. NASAA also approves of the proposed Arbitration Fairness Act (S. 1782). NASAA says that right now, nearly every broker-dealer has to include a pre-dispute…
Ronin Capital, Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, Penn Mott Securities, and Pearson Capital Management Receive Censures and Fines from NYSE Regulation
New York Stock Regulation Inc. announced its enforcement actions against four trading companies. The regulator says that Ronin Capital, LLC mismarked over 8,300 short orders because of inadequate supervisory procedures and supervision. The company continued to mismark short orders even after the SEC brought the violation to its attention. Ronin…
JP Morgan Will Pay $500,000 to Settle Municipal Securities SRO Claim
JP Morgan Securities Inc. says it will pay $500,000 to settle charges that it failed to disclose to regulators that it used and paid consultants to acquire a number of municipal securities offerings. The settlement agreement was announced by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which is in charge of enforcing…
FINRA Says Democrats Nominate Picks For SEC Commission
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) says that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has sent to the White House the Democrats’ choices to fill their two slots on the Securities and Exchange Commission. The two names put forward are Luis Aguilar, a partner at the Atlanta law firm of McKenna,…
Bear Stearns, Deutsche Bank, and Merrill Lynch Among the Wall Street Firms Subpoenaed by New York Prosecutors
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is subpoenaing several Wall Street firms, including Deutsche Bank AG, Merrill Lynch & Co, and Bear Stearns, for information about packaging and selling debt connect to high-risk mortgages. Prosecutors want to look at the way investment banks review the quality of mortgages before turning…
FINRA Consolidation Results in Fewer Exams for Securities Firms
Thanks to the consolidation of NYSE and NASD into the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), security firms registered in the United States will now content with fewer regulatory tests. FINRA officials announced the decrease in the number of examinations. Currently, a lot of firms are required to take a sales…