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

Displaying 221-230 out of 692 results

FINRA's Conflict of Interest Report

(Oct 2013)

On Monday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published their Report on Conflicts of Interest "to better understand how [a number of a large firms] manage conflicts of interest and to identify effective practices to manage those conflicts." The report details observations made in connection with FINRA's targeted examination letter in July 2012 as well as in-person meetings resulting from that letter.

The report makes it clear that a well-defined framework is necessary for...

Another Non-Traded REIT Lists Shares, Revealing Losses

(Oct 2013)

Shares of non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs) were sold in large amounts during the real estate bubble of 2005-2007. Without an observable trading price, sponsors simply fixed the share price of non-traded REITs at $10 per share. As real estate markets have collapsed and now begun to recover, it has been difficult to ascertain just how much those $10 shares have changed in value. Non-traded REIT sponsors are now required to estimate per-share net asset values, which have...

The JOBS Act and Private Placement Advertising

(Oct 2013)

As per rules adopted in line with the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), hedge funds and other private placements can now advertise to the general public. We have been covering this issue extensively here on the blog. While many sources suggested that this would unleash an immediate flood of new marketing, several sources have noted that there has in fact been remarkably few hedge fund advertisements so far.

Why? There could be several reasons. The first is that while the...

Fidelity to Launch Mutual Fund Based on Hedge Fund Strategy

(Oct 2013)

We see it again and again: complex investment strategies packaged into traditionally conservative investments. We have seen corporate debt linked to exotic derivatives positions (structured products), exchange-traded products linked tocomplex futures positions (commodities and volatility ETPs), variable annuities linked to options strategies (structured product based variable annuities), and even certificates of deposit with complex payoff structures (structured CDs). Now, we are seeing more...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - October 11th, 2013

(Oct 2013)

Previously Unknown Insider Traders in Heinz Agree to $5 Million Settlement
October 10, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22841)
According to the complaint, Rodrigo Terpins traded on nonpublic information concerning H.J. Heinz that he learned from his brother, Michel Terpins. Rodrigo Terpins made his trades through "a Cayman Islands-based entity named Alpine Swift that holds assets for one of their family members." The Terpins brothers and Alpine Swift, which was named as a relief defendant, have...

Volume of SEC Litigation Releases over Time

(Oct 2013)

Here at SLCG, we have spent a lot of time compiling and summarizing the SEC's Litigation Releases each Friday. You can find all of those weekly summaries on our blog -- 91 and counting! -- but we noticed that last week had a lot more Litigation Releases than usual. We also noticed the same thing at the end of last September. We wondered if there was a pattern here.

Being nerds, we wrote a program to count all of the SEC's Litigation Releases over the past 15 years. We aggregated them monthly...

FINRA May Require Brokers to Carry Arbitration Insurance

(Oct 2013)

When investors suffer damages at the handsof brokers, they often turn to FINRA arbitration rather than suing in state or federal court. FINRA arbitrations are designed to "assist in the resolution of monetary and business disputes between and among investors, brokerage firms and individual brokers," and sometimes result in a monetary award. However, one problem with FINRA awards is that some brokers are unable to pay, especially brokers with small under-capitalized firms who ran fraudulent...

Trouble in Paradise: UBS Puerto Rico Bond Fund Investors Hit Hard

(Oct 2013)

Despite a 2012 settlement agreement with the SEC, UBS Puerto Rico continues to face new allegations regarding its sales practices of tax-advantaged closed-end funds. While UBS Puerto Rico did not admit wrongdoing when it settled with the SEC, an SEC statement on the matter said "UBS Puerto Rico denied its closed-end fund customers [...] accurate price and liquidity information, and a trading desk that did not advantage UBS's trades over those of its customers." At the time of the SEC...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review (Part II) - October 4th, 2013

(Oct 2013)

SEC Obtains Asset Freeze and Other Emergency Relief in Ponzi Scheme Targeting Investors in Japan
October 3, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22832)
The SEC was granted a temporary restraining order, asset freeze and other emergency relief againstEdwin Yoshihiro Fujinaga and his company MRI International, Inc.. Fujinaga allegedly raised more than $800 million from investors through MRI, an allegedly "fraudulent Ponzi scheme designed to misappropriate money from investors. "The defendants...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review (Part I) - October 4th, 2013

(Oct 2013)

SEC Files Fraud Charges Against Universal Travel Group, Its Former CEO and Chair, Jiangping Jiang, and Its Former Director, Secretary and Interim CFO, Jing Xie
September 27, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22823)
The SEC announced the filing of "fraud and related charges against Universal Travel Group, a China-based travel services company, its former CEO and Chair, Jiangping Jiang, and its former Director, Secretary and Interim CFO, Jing Xie." According to the SEC, Jiang and Xie "failed to...

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