Blog

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

Displaying 181-190 out of 215 results for "Muni Arb".

Hedge Fund Correlation with Broad-Based Indexes Increases Dramatically

(Mar 2012)

As Bank of America-Merrill Lynch Global Research's Mary Ann Bartels showed last year, the correlation of hedge fund monthly returns with broad based stock market indexes has recently hit historic highs. We decided to look into this phenomenon and determine whether or not it is persisting.

In the following plot, we show the monthly returns for the S&P 500 index as well as the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index (representing an aggregation of several hedge fund investment...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - March 2nd, 2012

(Mar 2012)

Court Enters Summary Judgement Against Insider Trading Defendants John Jantzen and Wife, Marleen Jantzen
March 1, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22273)
On Wednesday, United States District Judge James R. Nowlin of the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, entered summary judgment against Austin residents John and Marleen Jantzen on insider trading chargesbrought by the Commissionin 2010. The Court found that both Jantzens insider traded in violation of the Exchange Act based on material...

WSJ: Private-Equity Fund in Valuation Inquiry

(Feb 2012)

There is an article in the Wall Street Journal today concerning the alleged exaggeration of an asset's value in a private-equity fund. From the article:

The potential exaggeration in the [Oppenheimer Global Resource Private Equity Fund LP] grew to more than $4 million, according to documents shared with Oppenheimer investors. The bulk of this markup came as the fund was reaching out to potential investors in the fall of 2009, and helped push the fund's reported internal rate of return to 38%,...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - February 24th, 2012

(Feb 2012)

Federal Court Enters Order Imposing $2.5 Million Civil Penalty Against Investment Adviser Robert Glenn Bard and Vision Specialist Group, LLC.
February 23, 2012, (Litigation Release No. 22267)
In July 2009 (Litigation Release No. 21160), the SEC stopped a fraud allegedly being perpetrated by Robert Glen Bard and his firm (Vision Specialist Group, LLC.). According to the SEC, Bard targeted residents of small rural communities promising high yields on relatively safe investments (such as CDs or...

Credit Risk in the Municipal Bond Marketplace

(Feb 2012)

Municipal bonds are debt securities issued by city, county or special-purpose government units (known as municipal authorities). This debt is typically issued to fund public works projects such as health care, construction projects or education. Because the interest from municipal bonds is usually exempt from federal income tax (one notable exception is Build America Bonds); the municipal bonds are especially attractive to high tax-bracket individuals. We will discuss some specifics of the...

Déjà Vu: Non-Traded Business Development Companies

(Feb 2012)

Last week we posted an introduction to non-traded REITs that highlighted the many risks inherent to those investments. As it happens, another non-traded investment has been growing in popularity, but has an almost identical set of risk factors and has recently caught the attention of regulators: non-traded business development companies (BDCs).

The resemblance between non-traded REITs and non-traded BDCs is uncanny. Both are special business classes created by Congress in the mid 20th...

Did ARS Interest Payments Adequately Compensate Investors After the Failures?

(Feb 2012)

Auction Rate Securities (ARS) are floating interest rate debt issued primarily by municipalities, mutual funds, and special purpose trusts. ARS were marketed as short-term, cash-equivalent investments similar to commercial paper but any similarities with short-term investments were superficial and misleading. ARS are long-term debt traded in periodic auctions with prices fixed at par. The auction-determined interest rate was constrained by a maximum rate which could prevent the auctions from...

Schwab Sues FINRA RE: Class Action and Consolidated Claims

(Feb 2012)

There has been some buzz on the blogosphere concerning the ongoing dispute between Schwab and FINRA concerning the issue of class action waivers attached to securities products.

FINRA recently alleged that Charles Schwab & Co. violated FINRA rules by including class action waivers in their customer agreements. From their press release:

FINRA's complaint charges that in October 2011, Schwab amended its customer account agreement to include a provision requiring customers to waive their rights...

Did BoA's 2007 CLOs Defraud Investors?

(Jan 2012)

We have posted a new paper today showing that on July 2007 Banc of America appears to have transferred at least $35 million of previous losses to unsuspecting investors in two of its CLO offerings - LCM VII and Bryn Mawr II. Investors ultimately lost nearly $150 million in October 2008 when these two CLOs backed by leveraged loans were liquidated.

Leveraged loans issued to below investment grade corporations were frequently extended by a syndicate of lenders intending to re-sell...

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...

215 Results

<
1
...
17
18
19
20
21
22
>