Wachovia Corporation agreed to acquire A.G. Edwards Corporation for $6.8 billion in stock. This will vault the company into the second-largest U.S. retail brokerage, behind only Merrill Lynch, with $1.1 trillion in client assets. This transaction is the largest of the recent takeovers of regional brokerage firms, which are having…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission granted Tenet Healthcare Corp. an unusual break: The company will be given protection against shareholder lawsuits even though it is being punished for fraud. The SEC accused the largest publicly traded hospital chain of deceiving investors by failing to disclose a scheme to boost…
A large percentage of U.S. investors could be convinced to invest into a “guaranteed return” investment scam, according to a poll by “Money-Track,” a public-television series, and Investor Protection Trust, an investor education group. The poll surveyed investors regarding eight basic investment principles, such as the definition of diversification and…
After his former boss was sentenced, a former head of American trading on the Citibank NA commodity desk was sentenced in May to 12 months and a day in prison and ordered to pay approximately $188,000 after pleading guilty to conspiring to falsify bank records and to commit wire fraud,…
In two related decisions the a New York U.S. Bankruptcy Court determined that a failed broker-dealer must arbitrate (under the NASD Code of Arbitration) its differences with a former registered representative and the firm that hired him — even though the defunct firm is no longer is an NASD member…
In a recent survey of financial services professionals, many financial advisers said that they knowingly skirted their companies’ compliance regulations and are tired of complying with a regulatory framework that seems to be growing more complicated. 100 financial services professionals were surveyed by Shorewood, Minnesota-based consulting and training firm for…
U.S. Senator Charles Grassley has introduced legislation that would require most hedge fund advisers to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Called the Hedge Fund Registration Act, the bill closes a loophole created by the U.S. Court of Appeals (DC) when it struck down a 2004 SEC rule requiring…
David A. Stockman was chief architect of President Ronald Reagan’s economic plan (a plan dubbed “voodoo economics” by George H.W. Bush). Stockman then became a high-profile Wall Street money man, but was indicted Monday on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice. Stockman, 60, who faces the prospect…
Three former brokers of Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers face a second trial on charges they conspired to commit fraud by allowing day traders to eavesdrop on orders being discussed on investment firms’ internal “squawk boxes.” Four current and former executives at the day trading firm A. B. Watley…
The Securities and Exchange Commission for the first time proved a company used insurance to hide its losses. The agency accused an executive of cellphone distributor Brightpoint Inc. of overstating the company’s earnings through improper use of an insurance policy. A New York jury found the company’s director liable for…