Blog

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

Displaying 61-70 out of 709 results

Only a Faulty Auto-liquidator Pays More for An Option Than it Can Ever Be Worth

(Nov 2015)

In two previous blog posts we documented how auto-liquidators appear to have executed option trades at distorted prices to their clients' detriment on August 24, 2015. The price distortions were caused by massive sell or buy orders on thinly traded securities being dumped into the market by auto-liquidation programs. These distortions were reversed within minutes, but not before causing investors millions of dollars of unnecessary losses.

In "The Recent Market Turmoil Spells Trouble for...

UBS Puerto Rico Still Can't Shoot Straight

(Oct 2015)

We've written extensively about the investment carnage caused by UBS Puerto Rico's management and sales of closed end municipal bonds funds. A summary of our findings can be found here: UBS Puerto Rico's Bond Fund Debacle: What We Know So Far .

Others will have to decide whether UBS was just incompetent or also wolfishly indifferent to Puerto Rico investors but recent evidence demonstrates that UBS Asset Managers of Puerto Rico continues to be, at least, incompetent.

The fourteen closed end...

More Signs of Trouble for Auto Liquidators

(Oct 2015)

In "The Recent Market Turmoil Spells Trouble for Auto Liquidators Like Interactive Brokers" we wrote about how the market decline on August 24, 2015 revealed continuing problems at auto-liquidating brokerage firms that cater to active traders. These active traders' accounts typically are subject to "portfolio margin" requirements which we have written about at length. ¹

We showed that thinly traded long-dated, deep out-of-the money SPX put options were bought on August 24, 2015 at...

Pension Purchase Agreements; The worst "investment" in the world?

(Oct 2015)

In recent years, platforms for buying and selling pension benefit payments have been created and gained traction. Voyager Financial Group (VFG) operated one of the largest and most active exchanges for buying and selling pension payments. There is limited information available on the size of this market because these firms have operated under the radar of securities regulators.

In pension benefit agreements, a pensioner agrees to turn over a specific number of their future pension benefit...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - September 21st, 2015

(Sep 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Obtains $30 Million from Traders who Profited on Hacked News Releases
September 14, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 191)
Ukrainian-based firm Jaspen Capital Partners and their CEO Andriy Supranonok have agreed to settle charges that they profited off of hacked, nonpublic information. The SEC have charged 34 people in a scheme that allegedly hacked into newswire services and transmitted the stolen data to international traders. The traders allegedly generated over...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - September 5th, 2015

(Sep 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Halts Ongoing Fraud in Minnesota
September 2, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 176)
James M. Louks and FiberPop Solutions Inc. are being charged with fraud and are being ordered to stop raising money from investors. Fiberpop was founded in 2003 as a builder and operator of fiber optic networks and data centers. The SEC alleges that although almost 100 investors were convinced to purchase notes to fund the company's business, Fiberpop has no operators or employees....

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - August 28th, 2015

(Aug 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Announces Asset Freeze against Alleged EB-5 Fraudster in Seattle Area
August 25, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 173)
Lobsang Dargey, owner of multiple "Path America" companies including Path America SnoCo and Path America KingCo, is accused of defrauding Chinese investors who were seeking American citizenship through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program. The EB-5 program states foreign citizens may qualify for U.S. residency if they make an investment of...

The Recent Market Turmoil Spells Trouble for "Auto-liquidators" like Interactive Brokers

(Aug 2015)

Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (IB) caters to active traders including those who trade futures and options. These active traders' accounts typically are subject to "portfolio margin" requirements which we have written about at length. ¹ IB requires its customers to agree to have IB auto-liquidate positions when accounts are in a margin deficit.

IB's auto-liquidation procedures were the focus of a FINRA arbitration earlier this year in which the Claimant, Glen Lyon Long-Term Options, LP,...

UBS of Puerto Rico Continues to Wreak Havoc on Clients

(Aug 2015)

In October 2014, UBS Puerto Rico settled with the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("OCFI") over UBS's lack of compliance and supervision as some brokers recommended some "mostly senior, low net worth investors with conservative investment profiles" use non-purpose loans to further concentrate their accounts in UBS PR closed-end bond funds. The UBS-OCFI settlement is available to view on our website.

As part of the settlement, UBS paid...

Why Citigroup Paid the SEC $180 Million Over MAT/ASTA

(Aug 2015)

I. Introduction

This week Citigroup paid $180 million to the SEC to settle allegations that Citigroup improperly sold high risk hedge funds known as MAT, ASTA and Falcon. The SEC Order is available to view online.

The SEC Order makes clear that Citigroup did not effectively monitor the portfolio manager or the sales force as it sold billions of dollars of high risk MAT ASTA funds with false and misleading sales presentations. In the end, Citigroup lost hundreds of wealthy clients and likely...

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