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

Displaying 161-170 out of 331 results for "Weekly Regulatory Review".

SEC Warns Investors About Binary Options

(Jun 2013)

The SEC has issued an Investor Alert on binary options, which are derivatives that pay out a fixed amount if an event happens and zero if it does not. We've covered binary options before, so do check out that post for a detailed background and an Excel spreadsheet that explains how binary options work in some detail.

The Alert highlights several risks of binary options, mostly relating to how they are traded. It notes:

Much of the binary options market operates through Internet-based trading...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - June 7th, 2013

(Jun 2013)

Final Judgments Entered Against Former Nicor Senior Officers Kathleen Halloran and George Behrens
June 5, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22715)
Final judgments were entered against Kathleen Halloran and George Behrens, former CFO and former Treasurer of Nicor, Inc. respectively, for allegedly overstating "Nicor's financial performance...by, among other things, making or authorizing false and misleading statements about Nicor's performance in multiple filings with the Commission." The SEC...

FINRA Fines Wells Fargo and Banc of America Over Unsuitable Sales of Floating-Rate Bank Loan Funds

(Jun 2013)

Yesterday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced fines totalling more than $2.1 million levied against Wells Fargo and Banc of America. In addition, FINRA has ordered the two institutions to pay restitution in excess $3 million to customers who suffered "losses incurred from unsuitable sales of floating-rate bank loan funds."

A floating-rate bank loan fund is a mutual fund that mainly invests in floating-rate high-yield senior secured loans. The floating-rate on the...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - May 31st, 2013

(May 2013)

District Court Enters Judgment Against Medical Software Company and Its CEO and CFO
May 30, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22709)
Default judgments were entered against MedLink International, Inc., its CEO, Aurelio Vuono, and its CFO, James Rose, for allegedly "filing an annual report falsely stating that its audit had been completed and...defrauding a MedLink investor." The judgment orders permanent injunctions from violating sections of the Securities Act and Exchange Act and orders the...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - May 24th, 2013

(May 2013)

SEC Charges Atlanta-Area Registered Representative and Registered Investment Adviser Representative with Securities Fraud
May 23, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22706)
According to the complaint, since at least 2008 Blake Richards, "a registered representative of a broker dealer, misappropriated at least $2 million from at least seven investors." Allegedly, the "majority of the misappropriated funds constituted retirement savings and/or life insurance proceeds from deceased spouses." An order...

SEC Charges South Miami with Defrauding Investors

(May 2013)

Yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the City of South Miami with defrauding investors over the tax-exempt status of some municipal offerings.

In 2002, the City of South Florida obtained access to tax-exempt financing through a pooled conduit municipal bond issued by the Florida Municipal Loan Council (FMLC) to fund the construction of a mixed-use retail and parking structure in the city's commercial district.* The 2002 FMLC bond offering can be found online. The...

Fitch Rolls Out New Ratings Indenture Abstract

(May 2013)

It is looking more and more like collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and other asset-backed securities -- the 'toxic' assets highlighted as some of the worst excesses of the financial crisis -- are back. And while the agencies that rate asset-backed securities are still at the center of the debate over the validity of these investments, at least one of them is trying to improve its explanation of their labyrinthine terms and conditions.

Fitch has recently published the first example of...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - May 17th, 2013

(May 2013)

Final Settlements Reached in "Golden Goose" Wall Street Insider Trading Case
May 15, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22700)
Earlier this week final judgments were entered against Jamil Bouchareb, Daniel Corbin, and Corbin's companies, CobinInvestmentHoldings, LLC and Augustus Management LLC, for their alleged involvement in a widespread insider trading scheme. Bouchareb and Corbin have agreed to pay over $1.2 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest to settle the charges. Additionally,...

FINRA, SEC Issue Investor Alert on Pension and Structured Settlement Income Streams

(May 2013)

Last week, both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued investor alerts concerning pension and structured settlement income streams. The SEC's investor bulletin and FINRA's investor alert can be found online. We haven't discussed the potential problems surrounding pension or structured settlement income streams before, but these regulatory notices highlight some of the potential issues that we think are important for...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - May 10th, 2013

(May 2013)

SEC Charges China-based Company and Former Chief Financial Officer in Fraudulent Scheme involving Non-Existent Computing Business
May 8, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22698)
According to the SEC's complaint, China-based company, Subaye Inc and its former CFO, James T. Crane, "misrepresented the company's business and operations, deceived the company's auditors, and misled investors about the company's true status and revenues." The SEC alleges that the defendants claimed Subaye had over 1,400...

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