Financial Firms

AIG Settles Ex-Executive’s $274M Lawsuit Over Alleged Failure to Pay Him During 2008 Economic Crisis

Published on: November 8, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

American Insurance Group and one of its ex-executives, Kevin Fitzpatrick, have reached a settlement deal over his $274 million lawsuit against the insurer. Fitzpatrick, the former president of the AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corp. unit, claims that his then-employer would not pay him during the 2008 economic crisis. The insurer’s refusal to pay occurred not long after the US government said yes to the first part of what would turn into a $182 billion bailout.

Fitzpatrick, who worked for American Insurance Group for 22 years, said that the company breached agreements it had with him and entities under his control. He claims the agreements entitled him to a share of profits made on the insurer’s real estate investments but that on October 2008 they stopped paying him and others who were entitled to profit distributions. Fitzpatrick then quit.

Fitzpatrick sued in 2009, claiming that the company owed him $274 million and that he wanted interest and punitive damages, which is right around the time that the insurer was trying to get past public disapproval over $165 million in bonuses that were paid to employees in the AIG Financial Products unit. That is the group that handled the complex financial instruments that led to its huge losses.

AIG denied wrongdoing and said that Fitzpatrick was paid what he was owed. The insurer contended that Fitzpatrick actually was fired and that he stole data that was confidential and belonged to the company.

In other AIG-related news, a district court judge just threw out a shareholder lawsuit accusing Bank of America (BAC) of not telling them that the insurer was planning to sue the bank with a $10 billion fraud lawsuit. AIG accused Bank of America of misrepresenting the quality of more than $28 million of MBSs that AIG bought from the latter and its Countrywide and Merrill Lynch (MER) units.

Also, there are reports that AIG might file mortgage-backed securities case against Morgan Stanley (MS) over $3.7 billion of MBS.

Morgan Stanley Says AIG May Sue Over Mortgage-Linked Investments, Bloomberg, November 4, 2013

Bank of America wins dismissal of lawsuit on AIG disclosures, Reuters, November 4, 2013

AIG Sued by Its Own Executive as Tragedy Turns to Farce, CBS, December 10, 2009

Judge Dismisses Shareholder Lawsuit Suing Bank of America For Allegedly Concealing AIG Fraud Case

Published on: November 6, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A judge has thrown out a securities lawsuit by shareholders accusing Bank of America Corp. (BAC) of concealing that insurer AIG (AIG) intended to file a $10 billion fraud case against it. U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan said that BofA and four of its officers were not obligated to reveal in advance that the lawsuit was pending or that it was a large one.

AIG filed its securities fraud lawsuit against Bank of America in 2011. The insurer claimed that the bank misrepresented the quality of over $28 billion of mortgage-backed securities it purchased not just from the bank but also from its Merrill Lynch (MER) and Countrywide units. On the day that the complaint was filed, shares of Bank of America dropped 20.3% and Standard & Poor’s revoked the tripe-A credit rating it had issued.

The shareholder plaintiffs claim that the bank’s officers, including Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, knew about the MBS fraud case six months before the lawsuit was submitted and they should have given them advance warning.

JPMorgan’s Admission to CFTC of “Reckless” Trading Could Lead to More Securities Fraud Cases

Published on: November 4, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to one brokerage executive who spoke with Advisen, JPMorgan Chase & CO.’s (JPM) admission to the Commodities Futures Trading Commission when settling securities allegations over its London Whale debacle that it engaged in “reckless” trading could get the financial firm into more legal trouble with investors.

The CFTC implied that because of certain “manipulative” actions, JPMorgan managed to sell $7B in derivatives in one day, including $4.6 billion in three hours. That the term “manipulate” was used could prove useful to plaintiffs (The regulator also accused the firm of using manipulative device related to credit default swaps trading, which violated a Dodd-Frank provision prohibiting such behavior). JPMorgan will pay $100 million to settle the securities fraud cause with the agency.

With the Securities and Exchange Commission also now seeking to obtain admission of wrongdoing from defendants in certain instances, such acknowledgments to regulators could impact firm’s insurance coverage terms. Right now, standard directors and officers coverage policies exclude personal profiting, fraud, and other illegal conduct. Admissions of fraud, however, could nullify such policies.

SAC Capital Advisors LP Expected to Plead Guilty to Insider Trading Criminal Charges

Published on: October 31, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to The Wall Street Journal, hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges involving securities fraud allegations as early as next week. The multibillion-dollar hedge fund is owned by billionaire Stephen Cohen.

Sources told the WSJ that SAC will plead guilty as part of a settlement to resolve insider trading allegations made by federal prosecutors. Also, Cohen is expected to agree to stop managing money outside the fund and pay about $1.2 billion in government penalties—the largest penalty ever for insider trading.

Meantime, SAC and Cohen are still in the middle of hashing out the securities case filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. That civil lawsuit also seeks a ban against Cohen from managing outside funds because he allegedly disregarded signs that insider trading was taking place at his firm. They say he inadequately supervised employees, allowing the fraud to happen.

Massachusetts Securities Regulators Fine Merrill Lynch $500,000 For Alleged Failure to Stop Rogue Broker

Published on: October 29, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith Inc. (MER) must now pay Massachusetts securities regulators a fine for allegedly failing to supervise a broker who went on to defraud customers. According to regulators and prosecutors, when she was with Merrill, now ex-broker Jane E. O’Brien borrowed over $2 million of clients’ funds. She pleaded guilty to fraud charges last year and is barred from the securities industry.

O’Brien received a thirty-three month prison term and was told to pay restitution of $240,000. She was the top producer at the firm’s Boston office, where she brought in close to $154 million in client assets and earned $903,734 in revenue during her first year with Merrill. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, whose office oversees the regulators there, said that this was another example of top producers “being held to a different standard” because of the money they make for their firms.

Although Merrill agreed to pay the “failure to supervise” fine, it has not admitted to violating any laws. A firm spokesperson says that as soon as they knew there might be a problem, an internal investigation was conducted and O’Brien resigned.

Is JPMorgan on the Verge of Settling A $5.75 Billion Mortgage-Backed Securities Case Filed by BlackRock & Neuberger Berman Group?

Published on: October 29, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

After its tentative $13 billion residential mortgage-backed securities settlement with the US Department of Justice, now JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) looks like it could be getting ready to settle yet another MBS fraud case, this time with bondholders, such as Neuberger Berman Group LLC, Allianz SE’s Pacific Investment Management, and BlackRock Inc. (BLK). Investors want at least $5.75 billion dollars.

The group of over a dozen bondholders already had reached a settlement in 2011 in an $8.5 billion mortgage-backed securities case against Bank of America Corp (BAC) over similar allegations. Now, the institutional investors want restitution over bonds that JPMorgan sold—those from the firm itself and also from Washington Mutual (WAMUQ) and Bear Stearns (BSC).

JPMorgan has been settling a lot of securities cases lately. Its $13B RMBS deal with the DOJ resolves a number of matters, including Federal Housing Finance Agency claims for $4 billion. The FHFA believes that J.P. Morgan gave Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) inaccurate information about the quality of the loans they bought from the bank ahead of the decline of the economy in 2008. $5 billion of the proposed RMBS settlement is for penalties and the remaining $4 billion is for the relief of consumers.

J.P. Morgan’s $13B Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Deal with the DOJ Stumbles Into Obstacles

Published on: October 28, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Reuters is reporting that according to a source in the know, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s (JPM) tentative $13 billion residential mortgage-backed securities settlement with the US Justice Department has hit a couple of stumbling blocks. The firm is reportedly trying to include a provision that would close any criminal probes into its packaging and sale of mortgage securities-except for an inquiry by California prosecutors. This counters the bank’s earlier decision to agree to keep criminal investigations out of the deal.

The settlement, preliminarily reached last week, includes $4 billion to resolve claims made by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which contends that J.P. Morgan misled Freddie Mac (FMCC) and Fannie Mae (FNMA) about the quality of loans the latter two bought from the investment bank before the 2008 economic crisis. Another $4 billion is for consumer relief, while $5 billion is for penalties.

The agreement also would settle a separate mortgage securities lawsuit filed separately by NY AG Eric Schneiderman against the firm over Bear Stearns (BSC)-packaged mortgage bonds. The state’s top prosecutor contended that Bear Stearns misled investors about the faulty loans behind the securities, neglected to complete assess the debt, disregarded defects that were found, and concealed its failure to properly examine the loans or reveal their risks.

Puerto Rican Labor Groups Want the US Territory to Sue UBS over the Bond Debacle

Published on: October 28, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

UBS Financial Services, Inc. and its Puerto Rican divisions (UBS) continue to feel the heat in the Puerto Rico Bond crisis, as labor groups in the US territory call on its government to file a bond fraud claim against the bank. They are claiming that the financial firm “tricked” the Puerto Rican government into issuing products that they knew would fail.

Also, lawmakers from the New Progressive Party want the government to investigate UBS’ practices in Puerto Rico. Already Rep. Ricardo Llerandi Cruz is asking for a Capital Inquiry into the firm, while Rep. Ángel Muñoz Suárez announced he would file a bond fraud case with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Meantime, Carlos Ubiñas, the CEO of UBS Puerto Rico, maintains that the firm is not accountable for “market events.” Issuing a statement, Ubiñas said that the loss in the Puerto Rico bonds’ value has more to do with the market and the lingering questions about the US Commonwealth’s credit.

Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Call A Broker Recruiting Truce

Published on: October 26, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS), which own the largest brokerage firms in the world, are declaring a cease-fire when it comes to using big bonuses to keep their own brokers and lure each other’s brokers away. Bank of America Corp. owns Merrill Lynch (MER).

After payments tied to Bank of America’s purchase of Merill Lynch expire in approximately two years, new retention bonuses will no longer be offered to the latter’s lead performers. Also, Morgan Stanley’s chief executive James Gorman has said that with brokers seeking to switch firms less often, compensation costs could fall.

A decline in recruiting could push up broker-dealer profits, which has been held back because of the fight between firms for the leading advisers. Some brokers have even been offered multiple times their yearly salary to move and bring their client roster with them.

Puerto Rican Bond Crisis Places Oppenheimer Funds at Risk

Published on: October 15, 2013 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to Investment News, along with the much publicized-UBS Puerto Rican Bond Funds, the municipal bond funds of OppenheimerFunds appear to have also been hit by Puerto Rico’s financial problems. The Oppenheimer Rochester Virginia Municipal Bond Fund (ORVAX), valued at $125 million, is down by over 15%, which places it last in the lineup of single-state municipal bond funds.

Such losses could prove an unpleasant surprise for investors in Virginia. The media publication blames the fund’s poor performance on the huge bet is placed on the Puerto Rican bond funds, which have not done very well in the wider municipal bond market because of the territory’s financial issues and the bonds’ low rating.

Investment research firm Morningstar Inc. says that the single-state municipal bond funds with over 25% of assets in the beleaguered bonds are The Oppenheimer Rochester North Carolina, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Maryland funds, with each fund down through last week by over 11%. A median single-state municipal bond fund usually holds no more than 2.38% of assets in the bonds from Puerto Rico.