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

Displaying 41-50 out of 200 results for "Muni Arb".

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - December 19th, 2014

(Dec 2014)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Charges Massachusetts-Based Scientific Instruments Manufacturer with FCPA Violations Rules
December 15, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 280)
The SEC charged Bruker Corporation approximately $2.4 million for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Bruker Corporation had insufficient internal controls which lead to approximately $230,000 in improper payments to various Chinese government officials. The improper payments enabled Bruker to realize...

15 Days in Puerto Rico Cost UBS Clients Over $1 Billion

(Dec 2014)

We've shown in recent posts that UBS underwrote $1.7 billion of unmarketable ERS bonds and bought them into the UBS PR Funds. You can find our earlier blog posts here. UBS made room these ERS bonds by selling out of the Funds other bonds UBS didn't underwrite. UBS bought the ERS bonds it underwrote in 2008 because there was no other market for the bonds it was underwriting.

Recently we illustrated how UBS-underwritten conflicted bonds purchased by UBS into the funds in 2008 caused losses in...

UBS PR Funds Also Bought $1.35 Billion of UBS Underwritten COFINA Bonds in 2007 and 2008

(Nov 2014)

Yesterday in our post "UBS Succumbed to Conflicts and Purchased $1.7 Billion of Employee Retirement System Bonds into its Puerto Rican Municipal bond Funds in 2008", we showed that UBS underwrote $1.7 billion of unmarketable ERS bonds and bought them into the UBS PR Funds in 2008. Today, we show similar conflicts led UBS to underwrite unmarketable 2007 and 2008 Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation (COFINA) bonds and stuff them into the Funds. COFINA issued two series of bonds in 2007...

UBS Succumbed to Conflicts and Purchased $1.7 Billion of Employee Retirement System Bonds into its Puerto Rican Municipal bond Funds in 2008

(Nov 2014)

In today's post we show that UBS underwrote unmarketable Employee Retirement System bonds and bought them into the UBS Funds in 2008. Friday, we'll show similar conflicts led UBS to underwrite unmarketable 2008 COFINA bonds and then stuff them into the UBS Funds.

The Puerto Rican Employee Retirement System was acutely and chronically underfunded. Figure 1 is a plot of the PR funding ratio and the median of the 50 states' funding ratios. The states median funding ratio fluctuated between 80%...

UBS Stuffed $2.5 Billion of ERS and COFINA Bonds it Underwrote in Its Puerto Rican Funds in 2007 and 2008

(Nov 2014)

We've written extensively about the UBS Puerto Rican Municipal Bond Funds. You can find our earlier blog posts about Puerto Rican Funds on our blog. In a January 2014 blog post titled "Diversification and UBS Puerto Rico Bond Fund Losses", we pointed out that the losses suffered by investors in the UBS PR Funds were caused by the portfolios' high leverage and concentration in Employee Retirement System and Sales Tax Authority (COFINA) bonds. In a December 2013 post titled "Merry Christmas...

The Securities and Exchange Commission Sanctions Brokers Over Sale of Puerto Rican Municipal Bonds

(Nov 2014)

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced sanctions today against 13 brokerage firms for selling high risk Puerto Rican municipal bonds in March 2014 in denominations well below the $100,000 minimum specified in the offering circular. The SEC press release with links to the individual orders can be found on the SEC website.

Kyle Glazier and Lynn Hume broke the story about small denomination trades in the Puerto Rico bond offering in contravention of the offering document in the Bond...

Taxes, Puerto Rico Municipal Bonds and the UBS Funds

(Oct 2014)

We've written extensively about the UBS Puerto Rican Municipal Bond Funds on our blog. Puerto Rico's unique tax regime keeps coming up and we thought it was worth a blog post clearing this matter up.

Puerto Rican residents don't pay federal income tax but do pay very high income taxes. The Puerto Rican maximum marginal income tax rate is 33%, reached at only $50,000 per year of taxable income.

The income on Puerto Rican municipal bonds is exempt from the state income tax that would be paid...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - October 10th, 2014

(Oct 2014)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Paul T. Mannion, Jr., Andrew S. Reckles, Pef Advisors LLC, and Pef Advisors Ltd.
October 8, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 23108 )
The SEC announced that on September 29, 2014, the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia entered a final judgment against Paul T. Mannion, JR., Andrew S. Reckles, PEF Advisors LLC and PEF Advisors Ltd. The Court found that Mannion and Reckles, co-owners of both PEF Advisors entities, had...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - October 3rd, 2014

(Oct 2014)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC v. Patrick G. Rooney, John R. Rooney, and Positron Corporation, Civil Action No. 9:14-cv-81224-KAM (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida)
October 3, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 23103)
The SEC announced that on September 30, it had filed a civil injunctive action against Positron Corporation, Patrick Rooney, the company's former CEO and John R. Rooney, a promoter of penny stocks. Positron, a microcap company, as well as Patrick Rooney and...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - June 6th, 2014

(Jun 2014)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Charles J. Dushek, Charles S. Dushek, and Capital Management Associates, Inc., June 5, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 23015)
Final judgments have been entered against Charles J. Dushek, Charles S. Dushek, and their investment advisory firm, Capital Management Associates, Inc., for their involvement in a "cherry-picking" scheme that "garnered the Dusheks nearly $2 million in illicit profits." The final judgment permanently enjoins the...

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