Blog

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

Displaying 10 out of 104 results for "Interest Rate Swaps".

BlueVault Partners' Non-Traded REIT Study: Even the Winners do Worse Than Traded REITs

(Mar 2014)

We have noted in our research and our posts that non-traded investments including non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), business development companies (BDCs), oil & gas and equipment leasing partnerships typically have extremely high upfront and ongoing fees. Because of these high costs, illiquidity, lack of transparency and conflicts of interest, these investments should underperform liquid, lower-cost traded investments with similar underlying exposures. For example, non-traded...

SEC Examiniation Priorities 2014

(Jan 2014)

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) senior staff recently announced their 2014 examination priorities . The national examination program will be focusing on fraud detection and prevention, corporate governance, and registrants that serve as both a broker-dealer and investment adviser.

SEC staff also plans to undertake initiatives that examine the rollover of retirement vehicles during employment transitions or near retirement. In particular, the staff is concerned about misleading...

FINRA Regulatory Priorities 2014

(Jan 2014)

Early this month, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released their 2014 regulatory and examination proirities . FINRA is continuing to focus on the suitability of recommendations made to retail investors. FINRA specifically mentions complex structured products (including leveraged ETFs), non-traded REITs, frontier funds, and interest rate sensitive instruments such as mortgage-backed securities and municipal bonds. At a recent conference, a FINRA representative added that...

FINRA Fines Oppenheimer over Huge Municipal Bond Markups

(Dec 2013)

FINRA announced yesterday that it has fined Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. nearly $700,000 for "charging unfair prices in municipal securities transactions and for failing to have an adequate supervisory system." FINRA found that over a 12 month period beginning in July 2008, Oppenheimer's head municipal securities trader, David Sirianni, priced bonds up to nearly 16% above the Oppenheimer's contemporaneous cost.

Oppenheimer put into place a system that would produce exception reports whenever an...

Brokerage Firm Fined for Misrepresentations Made to Former Broker

(Oct 2013)

When brokers sell unsuitable investments to their clients, it is often the case that those clients will sue the broker and the brokerage firm, a process known as 'broker-customer disputes.' What is less common is for brokers to sue the brokerage firm -- their own employer -- for encouraging them to sell risky investments that caused losses for their clients.

In a recent, closely-watched FINRA arbitration, Michael Farah of Newport Beach, California won approximately $4.3 million from his...

Study on Expungements Reveals Gap in Investor Protection

(Oct 2013)

We often encourage investors to visit the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA) BrokerCheck system to check the record of their broker. The broker's record contains information about their qualifications, employment and complaint history. The completeness of the information contained within the complaint history has recently been called into question by the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA).

Last week, PIABA released a study of over 1,600 arbitration cases filed...

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...

SEC Approves Municipal Adviser Registration Requirement

(Sep 2013)

Late last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to adopt rules requiring municipal advisors to register with the commission if the advisor "provides advice on the issuance of municipal securities or about certain 'investment strategies' or municipal derivatives." This permanent registration requirement was required by Dodd-Frank (Section 975) and replaces the temporary registration requirement previously implemented by the SEC.

The registration requirement is meant to...

SEC Cracks Down on Firms for Short Selling Violations

(Sep 2013)

Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced "enforcement actions against 23 firms for short selling violations" stemming from their investigation of improper participation in initial public offerings (IPOs). Firms are prohibited from selling short stocks in the five business days immediately preceding an IPO. The restriction is meant to prevent firms from artificially lowering the price just prior to the IPO.

The SEC alleges that the 23 firms "bought offered shares from...

FDIC Goes After Directors of Failed Banks

(Sep 2013)

In recent months, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has been filing a significant number of lawsuits against bank executives to recoup losses stemming from the onslaught of bank failures following the financial crisis. The annual number of bank failures reached a peak at 157 in 2010 and has declined steadily since.

These bank failures were a significant test of the FDIC system. The fund backing the FDIC guarantee has been depleted by nearly $90 billion over the past five years...

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