Articles Posted in Municipal Bonds

Wells Fargo Settles for $148M Municipal Bond Bid-Rigging Charges Against Wachovia Bank

Published on: December 8, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Wells Fargo & Co. has agreed to settle for $148 million the civil claims and criminal charges accusing Wachovia Bank of taking part in a bid-rigging scam with other financial firms and overcharging local and state governments on their investments. The settlement resolves allegations that for eight years, Wachovia rigged at least 58 transactions involving proceeds from over $9 billion of municipal bonds. By agreeing to settle, Wells Fargo, which acquired Wachovia three years ago, is not denying or admitting to these allegations.

In its allegations against Wachovia, the SEC said the financial firm earned ill-gotten gains in the millions of dollars by using tips provided about rival bids, turning in bogus bids to give competitors an advantage, and working with some of them to rig auctions so it would benefit. The Justice Department said Wachovia’s illegal behavior corrupted the bidding system for investment contracts while preventing municipalities from getting to avail of a competitive process. However, because the financial firm admitted to the illegal conduct, cooperated with the investigation, took action to deal with anti-competitive behavior, the federal government decided not to prosecute.

Involved in investigating Wachovia were the SEC, attorneys general in more than two dozen states, and the US Justice Department. The federal agencies have been looking at how a number of Wall Street firms and local-government advisers worked together to rig competitive auctions in order to charge excessive fees to public agencies that bought the investments.

More than dozen banks have been named as alleged co-conspirators. Other financial firms that have settled similar claims over muni bond bid-rigging are Bank of America, Corp., UBS AG, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. With this latest settlement, the banks will have paid $673 million to settle the municipal bond-related allegations.

The charges against the financial firms involve investment contracts purchased by cities and state with proceeds from the municipal-bond market. At competitive auctions organized by financial advisers, these contracts should have gone to banks offering the highest return.

According to investigators, what instead ended up happening is that some of these advisers would direct business to a certain bidder in exchange for kickbacks. Meantime, other banks would purposely make bids they knew wouldn’t win to cover up the alleged conspiracy. Because governments usually have to invest bond proceeds in the short term until it is time to spend the cash on public projects, the bogus bidding practices adversely impacted what municipalities ended up paying for reinvestment products. The bid-rigging cost the US Treasury and other governments money.

Wells Fargo Pays $148 Million to Settle Wachovia Muni Bid-Rigging Charges, Bloomberg, December 8, 2011

Wells Settles Wachovia Bid-Rig Case, Wall Street Journal, December 9, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch Settles for $315 million Class Action Lawsuit Over Mortgage-Backed Securities, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, December 6, 2011

Former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Told Hedge Funds About Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Bailouts in Advance, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, November 30, 2011

$75K FINRA Arbitration Award Against Wells Fargo Advisors LLC For Defaming an Ex-Employee in Form U-5 is Confirmed by District Court, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, November 30, 2011

Jefferson County, Alabama Declares Municipal Bankruptcy

Published on: November 15, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In the biggest municipal bankruptcy in this country to date, Alabama’s Jefferson County has sought Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. The filing comes after the failure of state lawmakers to support an agreement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and other creditors to lower its over $3B debt tied to a sewer system. Now, Jefferson County’s creditors must contend losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. There is also once more the worry that defaults may go up in the municipal bond market. This sewer-debt crisis has stalled economic progress in Alabama.

The accord that had been tentatively reached with creditors offered $1.1 billion in concessions and yearly sewer-raises of up to 8.2% for the first three years. Lawmakers, however, worried that these terms would take a toll on the poor, while creditors wouldn’t commit in writing to the agreement.

Jefferson County’s leading unsecured creditors are Bayerische Landesbank, a JPMorgan unit, and Depository Trust Co. In addition to sewer debt, the county owes approximately $1 billion. This includes $801M in school-construction bonds and $201M in general-obligation securities.

JPMorgan, which had over $1.2B of the county’s sewer debt as of May, didn’t want Jefferson County to file for Chapter 9. It was just two years ago that the financial firm consented to pay $722M to settle SEC charges that its bankers issued payments to people affiliated with Jefferson County politicians to garner business. Larry Langford, a former county commissioner, was even convicted of receiving bribes.

It is up now to Jefferson County to demonstrated to a federal judge that it cannot cover its bills. It must also set up a plan for how to fulfill its commitments.

Municipal bankruptcies are different from corporate ones in that creditors are not allowed to sell or seize the county’s assets. A trustee also cannot be appointed to run the county. Just recently, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania also filed for bankruptcy. The state capital noted that it had millions of dollars in late bond payments linked to a trash-to-energy incinerator. In August, Central Falls Rode Island filed for bankruptcy protection. The city has nearly $21 million in outstanding debt, not to mention unaffordable pension costs.

Although municipal bankruptcies don’t happen as often as corporate bankruptcies, Jefferson County is the eleventh one this year. Prior to this bankruptcy, the largest one was in 1994 when $1.7B in interest-rate bets losses and approximately $2.2 billion in outstanding debt promoted Orange County, California to file in 1994.

Our securities fraud attorneys are committed to fighting institutional investor fraud by helping municipalities and other clients that have sustained losses recoup their losses.

Jefferson County, Alabama, Votes to Declare Biggest Municipal Bankruptcy, Bloomberg.com, November 9, 2011

Jefferson County, Alabama to file for largest municipal bankruptcy, CNN, November 9, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Jefferson County, Alabama Votes to Settle its $3.14B Bond Debt with JPMorgan and Other Creditors, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, September 7, 2011

UBS Financial Reaches $160M Settlement with the SEC and Justice Department Over Securities Fraud, Antitrust, and Other Charges Related to Municipal Bond Market, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, May 16, 2011

JPMorgan Chase to Pay $211M to Settle Charges It Rigged Municipal Bond Transaction Bidding Competitions, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, July 9, 2011

JPMorgan Chase to Pay $211M to Settle Charges It Rigged Municipal Bond Transaction Bidding Competitions

Published on: July 9, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay $211 million to settle charges that its JP Morgan Securities LLC Division rigged dozens of bidding competitions for reinvesting the proceeds from municipal bond transactions to win business from local and state governments. The settlement is for complaints that the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service, 25 state attorneys general, and bank regulators had filed against the investment bank. JPMorgan has also agreed to give back approximately $129.7 million to the municipalities that were harm.

JP Morgan Securities is accused of making at least 93 secret deals with companies that take care of the bidding processes in 31 states. The arrangement let the investment bank see competitors’ offers.

According to regulators, between 1997 and 2005, members of JPMorgan’s municipal derivatives desk made misrepresentations and omissions in the secret deals, which impacted the prices the governments ended up paying while jeopardizing the tax-exempt position of billions of dollars worth of securities in the billions. This alleged misconduct also undermined JP Morgan’s competitors, who, along with the financial firm, are supposed to offer cities and states the opportunity to bid for competitive interest rates when they invest their tax-exempt proceeds from municipal bonds in municipal reinvestment products. JPMorgan is accused of also sometimes turning in nonwinning bids on purpose to meet tax requirements.

While The New York Time reports that by agreeing to settle JPMorgan Chase is not denying or admitting to wrongdoing, Yahoo reports that the financial firm has admitted to the illegal conduct and agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s probe as long as it wasn’t prosecuted. JPMorgan, however, did blame the illegal activity on ex-employees at a division that is no longer in operation.

To settle, JPMorgan will pay $51.2 million to the SEC, $35 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, $50 million to the IRS, and $75 million to a number of state attorneys general. It also reached a settlement with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Related Web Resources:
JPMorgan Settles Bond Bid-Rigging Case for $211 Million, NY Times, July 7, 2011
JPMorgan pays $211M to settle bid-rigging charges, Yahoo, July 7, 2011

More Blog Posts:
JP Morgan Chase Agrees to Pay $861M to Lehman Brothers Trustee, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, June 28, 2011
Citigroup Ordered by FINRA to Pay $54.1M to Two Investors Over Municipal Bond Fund Losses, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, April 13, 2011
UBS Financial Reaches $160M Settlement with the SEC and Justice Department Over Securities Fraud, Antitrust, and Other Charges Related to Municipal Bond Market, May 16, 2011 Continue Reading ›

Muni Debt Reform: SEC to Proceed with Field Hearing in Alabama

Published on: May 29, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), the Securities and Exchange Commission will proceed with a field hearing in Birmingham, Alabama. The hearing is to let the SEC more fully comprehend Jefferson County, Alabama’s experience as it comes up with policies to enhance disclosure and transparency in municipal finance markets.

Currently, Birmingham, which is the largest city in Jefferson County, is still trying to avoid filing a $4 billion sewer bonds bankruptcy stemming from county officials’ alleged corruption and fraud. The SEC hopes that the hearing will help it in the development of policies to improve disclosure and transparency in municipal finance markets.

Already, the SEC and the Justice Department have filed fraud charges against Jefferson County officials, including ex-mayor Larry Langford, who was convicted in 2009 for taking kickbacks involving the refinancing of county bonds that were for the funding of the reconstruction of the aged sewer system. Charged with alleged involvement in the pay-to-play scam are ex-J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM) managing directors Charles LeCroy and Douglas MacFaddin. JP Morgan Chase has already settled the SEC’s securities charges over the financial fraud, which allowed the financial firm to obtain the rights to some of the sewer bond offerings. It paid Jefferson County $50 million and dropped a $647 million termination fee claim.

Bachus has said that he doesn’t believe that any taxpayer, locality, or ratepayer should have to undergo the same experience as the sewer financing fiasco and the impact it has had. If Jefferson County were to file for bankruptcy, it would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in history.

Related Web Resources:
Congressman Bachus: SEC to Hold Field Hearing on Municipal Debt Reform , Bachus House
Bond Debacle Sinks Jefferson County, Bloomberg Businessweek, November 8, 2009

More Blog Posts:
UBS Financial Reaches $160M Settlement with the SEC and Justice Department Over Securities Fraud, Antitrust, and Other Charges Related to Municipal Bond Market, Institutional Investors Securities Blog, May 16, 2011
Citigroup Ordered by FINRA to Pay $54.1M to Two Investors Over Municipal Bond Fund Losses, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, April 13, 2011
SEC to Examine Muni Bond Market Issues During Hearings in Texas and Other States, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, February 9, 2011 Continue Reading ›

Citigroup Ordered by FINRA to Pay $54.1M to Two Investors Over Municipal Bond Fund Losses

Published on: April 13, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In what is being called the largest award that a major Wall Street broker-dealer has been ordered to pay individual investors, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered Citigroup to pay $54.1 million to investors Suzanne Barlyn and Randall Smith over investment losses they sustained on high risk municipal bond funds that lost 77% of their value during the financial crisis.

Richard Zinman, formerly of Citi’s Smith Barney unit, was the broker for Murdock, a venture capital investor, and Hosier, a retired patent lawyer. Zinman left Citi soon after the funds blew up. During the arbitration hearing, he testified on behalf of the two men, saying that Citi did not tell its brokers how risky and volatile the funds in fact were. Zinman now works for Credit Suisse Group.

Citigroup has been under fire for awhile now over its municipal bond funds. Geared towards wealthier clients, investments were a minimum of $500,000. The bond funds were supposed to deliver returns a few percentage points above that of municipal bonds by borrowing up to $7 for every $1 invested. The proceeds were placed in mortgage debt and municipal bonds. Unfortunately, the municipal bond funds’ value dropped when the mortgage market started to fail. After Citi brokers complained, however, the financial firm offered share buybacks that lowered investor losses to approximately 61%.

As part of this case, Citi must pay $17 million in punitive damages, $3 million in legal fees, and $21,600 for the hearing free expense, which is normally divided between the parties involved. Prior to this award, the largest one Citi was ordered to pay against a bond-fund claimant was $6.4 million.

Related Web Resource:
Citigroup Loses Muni Case, The Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2011
Muni bonds hit by more selling on default fears, Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2011

More Blog Posts:
SEC to Examine Muni Bond Market Issues During Hearings in Texas and Other States, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, February 9, 2011
Ex-Portfolio Managers to Pay $700K to Settle SEC Charges that They Defrauded the Tax Free Fund for Utah, Stockbroker Fraud Blog, January 22, 2011
Federal Judge to Approve Citigroup’s $75M Securities Settlement with SEC Over Bank’s Subprime Mortgage Debt Reporting to Investors, Institutional Investor Securities Blog, September 29, 2010 Continue Reading ›

SEC to Examine Muni Bond Market Issues During Hearings in Texas and Other States

Published on: February 9, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is expecting to accelerate its regulatory and enforcement activity over the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market. The SEC will be holding hearings in a number of US states, including Texas, to go over Muni bond market issues.

Among the issues likely to receive attention from the SEC:
• “Conduit” financing, which involves bonds sold by municipal entities for third parties, including private companies and colleges.
• The need for practical, applicable guidance for state and local officials that is more specific than the prohibitions provided under Section 17(a) of the 1933 Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the 1934 Securities Exchange Act.

Although municipal securities issuers are exempt from SEC registration, reporting, and disclosure requirements-per the 1934 Act’s Tower Amendment-they still have to abide by the commission’s antifraud provisions. The SEC has also sent compliance messages to issuers, improved disclosures, and discouraged bid-rigging, pay-to-play and other bad conduct.

Among its recent enforcement efforts, the SEC is investigating bond issuances in Rhode Island. It is also is looking into disclosures over Illinois’ funding of pension plans.

SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter will lead the hearings in Texas, Florida, Illinois, and Alabama this year. Staff will then put together a report that will include recommendations for legislative and regulatory changes and “best practices.”

Related Web Resources:
Second SEC Municipal Market Hearing Continues to Raise Disclosure, Tower Amendment Issues, NCSHA, December 15, 2010
SEC Sets Field Hearings on State of Municipal Securities Markets, SEC, September 7, 2010

Ex-Portfolio Managers to Pay $700K to Settle SEC Charges that They Defrauded the Tax Free Fund for Utah

Published on: January 22, 2011 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, while working at Aquila Investment Management LLC, ex-portfolio managers Thomas Albright and Kimball Young allegedly defrauded the Tax Free Fund for Utah (TFFU)-a mutual fund that was heavily invested in municipal bonds. Now, the two men have settled the securities fraud charges for over $700,000. However, by agreeing to settle, Young and Albright are not admitting to or denying the allegations.

The SEC claims that without notifying the TFFU’s board of trustees or Aquila management, the two men started making municipal bond issuers pay “credit monitoring fees” on specific private placement and non-rated bond offerings. The fees, which were as high as 1% of each bond’s par value, were charged to supposedly compensate Albright and Young for additional, ongoing work that they say was required because the bonds were unrated. The SEC says that credit monitoring was actually part of the two men’s built-in job responsibilities and that although deal documents made it appears as if the fees (totaling $520,626 from 2003 to April 2009) had to be paid and would go to TFFU, they actually end up in a company that Young controlled and that Albright owned equal shares in.

The SEC says that after management at Aquila found out in 2009 that Young and Albright were charging these unnecessary fees, the financial firm suspended the two men right away and reported them to the agency. The agency says the two men violated their basic responsibilities as investment advisers of mutual funds when they failed to act in the fund’s best interests.

Related Web Resources:
The SEC Order Against Young (PDF)

The SEC Order Against Albright (PDF)

Tax Free Fund for Utah

Municipal Bonds, Stockbroker Fraud Blog Continue Reading ›

San Diego Officials Settle SEC Municipal Bond Charges for $80,000

Published on: November 3, 2010 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Four ex- San Diego officials will pay $80,000 in fines to resolve municipal bond charges by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly misleading investors. Never before has the SEC obtained financial penalties against a city’s officials for municipal securities fraud. By agreeing to settle, ex-San Diego City Manager Michael Uberuaga, ex-Deputy City Manager for Finance Patricia Frazier, ex-Auditor and Comptroller Edward Ryan, and ex-City Treasurer Mary Vattimo are not denying or admitting to the charges. There are still charges pending against San Diego’s ex-Assistant Auditor and Comptroller Teresa Webster.

The SEC filed its securities fraud charges against the former city officials in 2008. The officials are accused of knowing that the city of San Diego had purposely underfunded its pension obligations to increase benefits will deferring costs. The SEC also contends that the ex- officials understood that without cuts to city services, employee benefits, or new revenues, it would be difficult to fund future retirement obligations. Yet the former officials allegedly did not let investors know about the serious funding problems and made false and misleading statements in 2002 and 2003.

Regulators contend that when San Diego sold over $260 million in bonds, city officials did not disclose that the pension deficit was expected to hit $2 billion in 2009. According to Rosalind Tyson, the director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office, municipal officials are obligated to make sure that investors get accurate and full information about the financial condition of an issuer.

Related Web Resources:

Former San Diego officials settle with SEC, The San Diego Union Tribune, October 26, 2010.

Former San Diego Officials to Pay Penalties in SEC Municipal Bond Fraud Case, Asset International October 29, 2010
More Municipal Bond Blog Posts Continue Reading ›

Stockbroker Fraud?: Extent of Main Street Natural Gas Bonds’ Tie to Lehman Brothers May Not Have Been Disclosed to Investors

Published on: April 10, 2010 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Investors of Main Street Natural Gas Bonds are claiming that not only did brokers fail to disclose the risks associated with investing in them, but they also failed to inform their clients that the bonds could be affected by the financial health of Lehman Brothers. Wall Street firms had marketed and sold Main Street Natural Gas Bonds as conservative, safe municipal bonds when, in fact, they were Lehman Brothers-backed complex derivative securities. As a result, when the investment bank filed for bankruptcy in 2008 the bonds’ trading value dropped.

If you were an investor who lost money because you invested in Main Street Natural Gas Bonds that you were told were safe, conservative investments, please contact our stockbroker fraud lawyers immediately to request your free case evaluation. You may have grounds for a securities fraud claim.

Main Street Natural Gas