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

Displaying 71-80 out of 104 results for "Interest Rate Swaps".

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Report on Reverse Mortgages

(Jul 2012)

Most American investors are likely aware of the SEC, and may also be aware of FINRA as an important regulatory institution (certainly, readers of this blog should be). But they may be less aware of the relatively new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which also has a mandate to protect consumers from financial malpractice. The CFPB was created out of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, and President Obama appointed its first director in January...

Variable Annuity Regulation: Speech by Susan Nash

(Jul 2012)

Last Tuesday, Susan Nash, Associate Director of the Division of Investment Management at the SEC, gave an interesting speech at the URI 2012 Government, Legal & Regulatory Conference regarding variable annuities. Variable annuities continue to grow in sales -- according to Ms. Nash's comments, sales of variable annuities grew by approximately 12% in 2011 -- but have been the subject of numerous FINRA Investor Alerts and Regulatory Notices due to their high costs and complex risks.

Ms. Nash...

The Small Price of Big Favors

(May 2012)

Yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a press release announcing that it had filed a complaint alleging Detroit officials -- including former mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick and former city treasurer Jeffrey W. Beasley -- influenced the city's pension fund investments to favor an advisor, MayfieldGentry Realty Advisors LLC, in exchange for personal gifts. This story illustrates an all too common occurrence in municipal finance. According to the SEC, Kilpatrick and Beasley...

Massachusetts Securities Regulators Fine RBC for Selling Unsuitable Leveraged and Inverse ETFs

(May 2012)

RBC Capital Markets has agreed to pay $2.9 million in restitution to Massachusetts investors related to the sale of unsuitable leveraged, inverse, and inverse-leveraged ETFs. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Galvin, who has previously investigated Bank of America over warehousing of CLO assets, issued the complaint in July 2011, accusing RBC and its registered representative Michael D. Zukowski of selling these products "to clients who did not understand what these...

SEC Sends Letter to Issuers of Structured Notes

(Apr 2012)

Recently the SEC sent out a letter to certain financial institutions regarding their offerings of structured notes. The letter was sent by Amy M. Starr, the Chief of the Office of Capital Markets Trends, Division of Corporation Finance. In the letter the SEC urges the structured note issuers to disclose key information with regard to the offerings, such as product pricing and use of issuing proceeds.

The SEC highlighted a number of potentially confusing aspects of structured notes and their...

Oppenheimer Ordered to Repurchase $5.98 Million in Auction Rate Securities

(Jan 2012)

In January 2012, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel in New York ordered Oppenheimer to repurchase certain Auction Rate Securities sold to Claimant Nicole Davi Perry for $5.98 million, plus payment of $134,108 in legal fees. The award was posted in FINRA's arbitration database this Monday. See this related report from Reuters. Dr. O'Neal at SLCG testified on behalf of the Claimant; Dr. O'Neal and Dr. McCann have authored a report on ARS previously.

Auction rate...

SEC Press Release: New Short Form Criteria

(Jul 2011)

SEC Adopts New Short Form Criteria to Replace Credit Ratings

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a press release today announcing that it had removed "credit ratings as eligibility criteria for companies seeking to use 'short form' registration when registering securities for public sale." The SEC unanimously voted for the adoption of this new rule, in response to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that encouraged financial regulators to rely...

SEC Press Release: Forex Ponzi Scheme

(Jul 2011)

SEC Charges Forex Ponzi Operator Who Fled After Scheme Unraveled

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a press release today announcing that it had

"filed fraud charges Thursday against the CEO of a purported foreign currency trading firm, alleging he scammed hundreds of investors with false promises of high, fixed-rate returns while secretly using their money to fund his start-up alternative newspaper."

Lowrance, Chief Executive of First Capital Savings &...

SEC Press Release: State of Municipal Securities Market

(Jul 2011)

SEC Announces July 29 Field Hearing on the State of the Municipal Securities Market

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a press release today announcing that

"it will hold a municipal securities market field hearing in Jefferson County, Ala., on July 29. Topics will include distressed communities, small issuers, disclosure, derivatives and pre-trade price transparency."

The purpose of the field hearing is to understand the relevant issues affecting investors in...

SEC Press Release: Fraudulent Bidding Practices

(Jul 2011)

SEC Charges J. P. Morgan Securities with Fraudulent Bidding Practices Involving Investment of Municipal Bond Proceeds

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a press release today announcing that it has

"charged J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (JPMS) with fraudulently rigging at least 93 municipal bond reinvestment transactions in 31 states, generating millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains."

Here are the SEC Complaint, SEC Final Judgment and the Litigation Release...

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