What You Won't Learn From One Wall Street Watchdog Report
By: Heather Gillers, The Wall Street Journal (Mar 2017)
Heather Gillers' "What You Won't Learn From One Wall Street Watchdog Report" Wall Street Journal story reports on a problem SLCG identified, illustrated by recent arbitration filings in Puerto Rico. Her article cites SLCG's analysis BrokerCheck records showing settlements and pending cases on individual broker's BrokerCheck reports not listed on the brokerage firm' BrokerCheck reports even though it is typically the firm not the individual broker who is sued. Craig McCann, Mike Yan and Chuan Qin are the principal authors of the study "Puerto Rico Securities Arbitration Report". Their findings are related to broader reported in the "How Widespread and Predictable is Stock Broker Misconduct?".
Fears grow over Wall St's appetite for securities-based lending
By: Ben McClannahan, The Financial Times (Jul 2016)
The Financial Times continues to cover the substantial increase in securities-based lending to customers of broker-dealers. Lending has become the primary focus of sales and marketing efforts at retail wirehouses like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS. Paul Meyer, who has written extensively on the investor protection risks posed by these loans, is quoted today by the Financial Times cautioning about the risks associated SBLs.
Is Your Broker Good or Bad?
By: Jason Zweig, The Wall Street Journal (Apr 2016)
Jason Zweig's "The Intelligent Investor: Is Your Broker Good or Bad?" in this weekend's Wall Street Journal reports on recent published literature on broker misconduct. His article cites SLCG's recently completed analysis of 1.2 million BrokerCheck records. Craig McCann, Mike Yan and Chuan Qin are the principal authors of the study. Their findings are reported in "How Widespread and Predictable is Stock Broker Misconduct?"
Market woes prompt regulator to warn on securities-based loans
By: Ben McLannahan, Joe Rennison, Financial Times (Sep 2015)
Ben McLannahan and Joe Rennison's "Market woes prompt regulator to warn on securities-based loans" quotes SLCG's Paul Meyer on the conflicts of interest involved in brokerage firms' extension of securities-based loans. Paul is quoted as saying "While securities-based lending is a low risk and very profitable business for the broker-dealer, the same cannot be said for the borrower. Broker-dealer lending creates conflicts of interest, saddling the customer with risks and potential long-term consequences he or she may not fully understand until the next bear market arrives." Paul's paper on securities-based lending is available on our website.
Federal Judge Hands Down 10-Year Sentence To Former Chief Accounting Officer For Beazer Homes USA, Inc.
By: U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina (Apr 2015)
In April 2015, a federal judge in Charlotte, NC handed down a 10-year prison sentence to the former Chief Accounting Officer of Beazer Homes for accounting fraud and obstruction of justice. Dr. O'Neal testified about the losses Beazer Homes shareholders incurred due to the fraud. The Judge adopted Dr. O'Neal's event-study calculations and rejected the competing analysis of defendant's expert witness. In criminal cases, the magnitude of the losses caused by the criminal activity in large part determine the severity of the punishment. The US Department of Justice writes that "the Court emphasized that its sentence was intended to deter others because our 'markets depend on the integrity of accounting officers.'"
