Blog
August 4, 2009
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Bank of America Corporation for misleading investors about billions of dollars in bonuses that were being paid to Merrill Lynch & Co. executives at the time of its acquisition of the firm. Bank of America agreed to settle the SEC’s charges and pay a penalty of $33 million. […]
August 2, 2009
If you own a Lehman Brothers structured product issued in Europe, the basic components you are ultimately invested in are a bond and an option. The bond is a zero coupon, which means it is issued at a price well below par. The value you have in the bond is whatever price you have bought […]
July 27, 2009
TD Ameritrade Inc. agreed to buy back $456 million of auction-rate securities from about 4,000 clients as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Securities and Exchange Commission and Pennsylvania securities regulators. The online brokerage firm intends to return the money to customers, including individuals, charities, nonprofit entities and businesses, […]
July 21, 2009
The SEC alleges that Morgan Keegan misrepresented to customers that ARS were safe, highly liquid investments that were comparable to money market funds. Morgan Keegan sold approximately $925 million of ARS to its customers between Nov. 1, 2007, and March 20, 2008, but failed to inform its customers about increased liquidity risks for ARS even […]
July 16, 2009
UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, sued Highland Capital Management LP in New York, claiming losses of at least $745 million in a failed collateralized debt obligation transaction. Highland Capital, the investment firm founded by James Dondero and Mark Okada, failed to fulfill terms of the deal reached in April 2007, UBS said in a breach-of-contract […]