Securities Fraud

SEC To Examine Exchange Traded-Fund Regulation Again

Published on: March 22, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is getting ready to revisit a 2008 rule proposal about exchange-traded funds. In the wake of new issues that have cropped up since then, changes to the original proposal are likely.

Speaking at the Investment Company Institute’s Mutual Fund and Investment Management Conference this week, SEC’s Division of Investment Management associate director Diane Blizzard said that a revised rule would likely address the differences between index and active funds, transparency of underlying and direct instruments, inverse leverage, and creative flexibility within the funds.

Currently, there is no specific timeline for a revised proposal roll out. Since no rule is in place at the moment, the Division of Investment Management is in charge of making individual choices about whether to approve new exchange-traded funds. This SEC division is also looking at enhancing disclosure requirements related to variable annuities, including whether senior investors and those seeking to build their retirement funds are being properly and thoroughly notified of the benefits, complexities and costs.

Will Castlight Health IPO Prove Too Costly for Investors?

Published on: March 17, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Castlight Health (CLST) saw its share price soar from $16/share to close to $40/share on the first day of its IPO last week. Despite bringing in just $13 million in revenue yearly thus far, its market cap still managed to hit $3 billion. Now some are wondering if this is an indicator that the IPO market may be approaching bubble territory. (Morgan Stanley (MS), Goldman Sachs (GS), and other top underwriters had priced the shares at $16, just over the raised and expected range of $13 to $15 per share)

Motley Fool analyst Ron Gross observed on Friday’s Investor Beat that this is the ninth IPO to double during its first trading day in the last nine months. Previous to that only five IPOs had done the same in the last 12 years. So yes, he says this is bubble area. Gross expressed concern that investors might be getting into stocks with super high valuations in light of the momentum yet later find that they are framing themselves for failure because they didn’t purchase the stocks at the right price.

However, reports USA Today, Castlight EO Giovanni Cilella is saying that the company sold its shares at the right time and financing is being done to keep up with customer demands. The company makes software to help employers and companies control the costs of healthcare.

1 in 5 Seniors Fall Prey to Financial Fraud

Published on: March 14, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

According to the Investor Protection Trust, out of every five senior citizens over age 65, one of them will fall victim to a financial scheme in 2012. The Federal Trade Commission says that citizens over age 60 made up the largest group of people to report elder financial fraud to the Federal Trade Commission in 2013-that’s 27% of those who made such reports. That figure was just 22% in 2011.

At Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP, please contact our senior investor fraud lawyers today if you feel that your losses may be a result of financial fraud or some other elder exploitation case. We work with elderly investors to get their money back.

The reason for the increase in elderly victims can in part be attributed to people living longer lives and the baby boom generation getting older. The Street reports that according to a survey conducted by the Metropolitan Life Foundation in 2010, elder financial abuse victims lost a minimum of $2.9 billion in 2010, which was a 12% increase from the number of senior financial fraud victims in 2008. Aside from negligent financial representatives, other fraudsters can include caregivers, relatives, immediate family, and strangers.

Jefferies LLC Settles SEC Charges for $25 Million

Published on: March 12, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Broker-dealer and investment bank Jefferies LLC (JEF) has consented to pay $25 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it did not properly supervise traders at its mortgage-backed securities desk. These same staffers purportedly lied to investors about pricing.

The regulator contends that Jefferies did not give its supervisors what they needed to properly oversee trading activity on the MBS desk and that these managers neglected to find out what bond traders were telling customers about pricing information in terms of what the bank paid for certain securities. This inaccurate information was misleading to investors, who were not made aware of exactly how much the firm profited from in the trading.

While Jefferies’ policy makes supervisors look at electronic conversations of salespeople and traders so any misleading or false information given to customers would be detected, the SEC says that the policy was not effected in a manner that price misrepresentations were identified. The supervisory failures are said to have taken place between 2009 and 2011.

SEC Investigates Whether Currency Traders Distorted ETF and Options Prices, Manipulated Currency Markets

Published on: March 12, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

InvestmentNews is reporting that according to sources in the know, the Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to figure out whether currency traders at the biggest banks fixed benchmark foreign-exchange rates and distorted the process for exchange-traded funds and options. The regulator, which oversees the options and ETFs involved with the rates, joins the ongoing US and European regulatory investigations into possible currency market manipulation. Also probing the matter is the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Federal Reserve, the US Justice Department, New York’s lead banking regulator, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

European and US authorities have talked to at least 12 banks as they look into allegations reported by Bloomberg News last year accusing dealers of saying they shared data about client orders to manipulate currency benchmark spot rates. Options and other derivatives comprise over 50% of the $5.3 trillion/day foreign exchange market, with the remaining consisting of spot transactions.

In London today, with the Bank of England’s governor, Mark J. Carney talked to lawmakers about concerns that banking officials might have known about and tolerated currency market manipulation. Independent directors are currently conducting a review. Carney testified in front of the Treasury Select Committee.

SEC Stops Pyramid Scam That Targeted Investors Via Twitter, Facebook, Skype, and YouTube

Published on: March 11, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission has put out an emergency enforcement action to stop a pyramid scam that has already taken $300,000 from about 150 investors in the US. The scheme involves bogus companies pretending to be an international investment firm. Customers were solicited via Twitter, Skype, Facebook, and YouTube.

Now, the SEC has gotten a federal court order freezing the holding the funds that purportedly were stolen from investors by MWF Financial and Fleet Mutual Wealth Limited, known together as Mutual Wealth. The regulator claims that the company used social networking and its website to target investors, making false promises of returns of 2 to 3% a week if they opened accounts with the firm.

According to the Commission, Mutual Wealth made its fraudulent pitches via social media. Misrepresentations were published on the company’s Facebook page, including data about income yields of up to 8% weekly and HFT portfolios with ROI of a maximum of 25%/annum. Mutual Wealth purportedly touted its use of a high-frequency trading strategy that lets capital be put into securities for just minutes at a time. The company offered a commission or referral fee if investors became “accredited” and brought in new investors.

Ex-Jefferies Trader Found Guilty in Securities Fraud Case Over Bond Prices

Published on: March 8, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A jury has convicted Ex-Jefferies Group LLC (JEF) trader Jesse Litvak of securities fraud. Litvak was found guilty of 15 criminal counts, including 10 securities fraud counts related to his misrepresenting bond prices to customers so he could make more money for him and his firm. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Jefferies Group is a Leucadia National Corp. (LUK) unit.

According to the government, the 39-year-old trader gave clients inaccurate information about the price of residential mortgage-backed bonds and kept the monetary difference. Litvak, who worked at Jefferies from April 2008 through December 2011, is accused of bilking customers of about $2 million, benefiting himself and his employer.

While Litvak’s legal team tried to persuade a jury that statements Litvak made no difference to customers or their decision of whether to buy the bonds, and that the tactics his client employed are “expected,” the government argued that Litvak’s statements did affect his clients. Litvak was also found guilty of a criminal charge accusing him of fraud related to the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Lehman Brothers Holdings’ $767M Mortgage Settlement to Freddie Mac is Approved by Judge

Published on: February 19, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A judge in US bankruptcy court has approved the $767 million mortgage securities settlement reached between Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Freddie Mac (FMCC). The deal involves a $1.2 billion claim over two loans made by the mortgage giant to Lehman prior to its collapse in 2008.

As part of the accord, Freddie will provide loan data to the failed investment bank so that Lehman can go after mortgage originators over alleged misrepresentations. Lehman will pay the $767 million in a one-time transaction.

Its bankruptcy was a main trigger to the 2008 global economic crisis. According to Matthew Cantor, chief general counsel of the unwinding estate, the bank has already paid creditors $60 billion, with more payouts.

SEC Charges Two Wall Street Traders With Securities Fraud in “Parking” Scam

Published on: February 15, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Ryan King and Thomas Gonnella with securities fraud over a bogus “parking” scam. According to its Enforcement Division, the two Wall Street traders tried to get a round a firm policy that places a penalty for holding securities too long, and one of them purportedly placed securities in the trading books of the other so such fees wouldn’t be imposed and end up affecting his annual bonus.

The two men worked at different firms. According to the SEC, Gonnella asked King to help him get around his firm’s policy by arranging for the latter to buy securities that he would then later buy from King’s firm at a profit. By parking the securities in King’s trading book to reset the holding period, Gonnella was seeking to avoid charges to his trading profits and bonus as a result of inventory.

Per the administrative orders, Gonnella parked about 10 securities with King. The alleged round-up trades purportedly caused Gonnella’s firm to lose about $174,000.

SEC Restructures Trial Unit in an Effort to Decrease Courtroom Losses

Published on: February 13, 2014 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

In the wake of recent losses in the courtroom, the Securities and Exchange Commission is changing up the way it gets ready for trial. The Wall Street Journal says that SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White has retooled the agency’s trial unit. One of the reasons for the restructuring is so litigators and investigators can work more closely together.

The SEC’s victory rate has been dropping. The agency won just 55% of trials in the last four months, which a definite decline compared to the last three years when it had been winning over 75% of the time. Since October, however, juries and judges have ruled in favor of 10 out of 25 persons and firms in securities litigation against the SEC, and the government lost 5 of 11 trials. This is a definite downswing from the 12 months prior when just 5 of 34 defendants beat the regulator. Although the cases that the regulator lost were filed before White took over the helm, defense lawyers believe that the Commission’s current losing trend will compel more people to go up against it instead of settling.

The Commission’s trial unit has now been split into four groups so that this more closely mirrors the work of enforcement officials when they probe cases. Senior officials are also conducting practice openings for trials.