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Our experts frequently write blog posts about the findings of the research we are conducting.

Displaying 141-150 out of 223 results for "Volatility Products".

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - August 24th, 2012

(Aug 2012)

SEC Charges New York-Based Firm and Owner in Penny Stock Scheme
August 23, 2012,(Litigation Release No. 22457)
Edward Bronson and his company, E-Lionheart Associates LLC (which also conducts business under the name Fairhills Capital Inc.), have been charged by the SEC with conducting a penny stock scheme in which they allegedly reaped over $10 million in illegal profits. The alleged scheme involved buying shares at deep discounts from over 100 penny stock companies and then selling them...

SEC Investor Bulletin on ETFs

(Aug 2012)

The SEC recently released an Investor Bulletin on ETFs which provides background information about ETFs in general and defines several terms which may be confusing to investors. ETFs can be complex and risky investments, as they allow nearly anyone to purchase portfolios which would typically only be suitable for sophisticated investors or traders.

Some commentators were not satisfied with the Bulletin, particularly its lack of new guidelines related to leveraged and inverse products. Paul...

FINRA Targets Conflicts of Interest

(Aug 2012)

FINRA has announced its intention to conduct a targeted examination (or sweep) of its members' practices relating to the identification and management of conflicts of interest. The importance of this effort cannot be overstated. Conflicts of interest in the securities industry are particularly troublesome because customers usually do not stand in an arm's-length, caveat emptor relationship to their broker. Instead, most customers trust and rely upon their broker's superior knowledge and...

Overreliance on Credit Ratings Results in Large Losses for Municipalities

(Aug 2012)

Earlier this week, the SEC charged Wells Fargo's brokerage firm with selling complex securities to institutional investors such as municipalities and non-profits. The Institutional Brokerage and Sales Division, between January 2007 and August 2007, made recommendations to institutional clients to purchase asset-backed commercial paper "issued by limited purpose companies called structured investment vehicles (SIVs) and SIV-Lites backed largely by mortgage-backed securities and CDOs." Already...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - August 10th, 2012

(Aug 2012)

SEC Charges Participants in $5 Million Boiler Room Scheme
August 10, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22444)
The SEC charged Edward M. Laborio, Jonathan Fraiman, Matthew K. Lazar, and seven entities controlled by Laborio for their alleged roles in a boiler scheme that ran from December 2006 to August 2009. The seven entities include Envit Capital Group, Inc., Envit Capital, LLC, Envit Capital Holdings, Inc., Envit Capital Private Wealth Management, LLC, Envit Capital Multi Strategy Mixed...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - July 27th, 2012

(Jul 2012)

SEC Charges Aider and Abettor of Penny Stock Company's Disclosure of Fake Investment
July 25, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22424)
The SEC lodged a complaint against Ronald Feldstein who allegedly filed a false press release announcing a "fictitious $6 million investment in a penny stock company, Interlink-US Network, Ltd." Feldstein was paid by Interlink's management to play the role of a prospective investor. Feldstein, posing as President of LED Capital Corp., entered into a phony...

FINRA Issues Warning on ETNs

(Jul 2012)

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently issued an Investor Alert regarding the risks of exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

ETNs are a type of unsecured debt instrument typically issued by banks and other financial institutions. Similar to its close cousin the exchange-traded fund (ETF), ETNs track the returns of a specified asset class--often an index. However, unlike ETFs, ETNs do not hold actual assets tracked by the underlying index. This means investors in ETNs can suffer...

Buffered and Capped Closed-End Funds

(Jul 2012)

Last Friday the Wall Street Journal reported on a new product which combines features of both structured notes and closed-end funds. The eUnit 2 Year US Market Participation Trust IIwas first issued by Boston-based investment company Eaton Vance on May 30. This was the second offering by Eaton Vance of such a product: the first trust with identical name debuted on Jan 26.

Inessence, the eUnit Trust is like a structured note with capped upside potential and buffered downside loss. At the end...

FDIC Warns Investors about Structured CDs

(Jul 2012)

Earlier this year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a warning about structured certificates of deposit (CDs), which are hybrid investments combining features of both traditional CDs and structured products. FINRA has also recently investigated the market for structured CDs, which has been estimated to be as large as $30 billion.

Structured CDs are essentially bank deposits whose interest payments depend on the value of a reference index instead of a predefined fixed or...

Big Wall Street Firms Pressure Their Salesmen to Favor House-Brands

(Jul 2012)

Financial advisors and brokers are bound by ethical guidelines to analyze and recommend investment products that are suitable and appropriate for their clients' investment objectives and tolerance for risk. In general, they are obliged to put their clients' best interests ahead of their own.

The New York Times reported Monday on the recent admission from a former JPMorgan mutual fund advisor that he sold JPMorgan funds over similar offerings from outside JPMorgan for no other reason than to...

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