Securities

Washington, D.C., Oct. 5, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has approved new exchange rules for breaking stock trades that deviate so substantially from current market prices that they are considered “clearly erroneous.” The rules would for the first time provide a consistent standard across stock exchanges and reduce uncertainty about what happens to a trade depending on where it is executed.

“Adopting consistent standards across exchanges for breaking trades will strengthen the resiliency of our markets by reducing the potential for market confusion, especially during periods of high market volatility,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. “These changes will promote the orderly and efficient operation of our markets.”    » read more »

August 27, 2009 -- WASHINGTON—James M. Davis, 60, the former chief financial officer of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group (SFG), pleaded guilty today to fraud and obstruction charges related to a $7 billion scheme to defraud investors, Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, and Tim Johnson, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, announced.

Davis was charged in a criminal information, filed on June 18, 2009, with conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud; mail fraud; and conspiracy to obstruct a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation. The criminal information also seeks forfeiture of up to $1 billion in fraud proceeds.    » read more »

London - 23 June 2009 - J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services today announced it will provide fund accounting, OTC derivatives services and compliance reporting to Schroder Investment Management's UK range of retail funds.

J.P. Morgan already provides custody, accounting, OTC derivative compliance reporting, securities lending, trust & fiduciary, cash and foreign exchange services to Schroders, and services the company from Australia, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, the US and the UK.    » read more »

Citi Announces Public Share Exchange Launch, Definitive Agreement with U.S. Government

June 10, 2009 -- New York – Citi has finalized a definitive agreement with the U.S. Government and will now launch its exchange offers for publicly held convertible and non-convertible preferred and trust preferred securities. Under the agreement, the Government will exchange a portion of its preferred securities with an aggregate liquidation value of up to $25 billion for interim securities and warrants and its remaining preferred securities for trust preferred securities. The public exchange offers are currently scheduled to expire on July 24, 2009, subject to extension by Citi.    » read more »

Boston-Based Firm and Affiliate to Pay $40 Million to Settle SEC Charges

Washington, D.C., June 8, 2008 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Boston-based Evergreen Investment Management Company LLC and an affiliate with securities law violations for overstating the value of a mutual fund that invested primarily in mortgage-backed securities, and then only selectively telling shareholders about the fund’s valuation problems.

Evergreen agreed to pay more than $40 million to settle the SEC’s charges without admitting or denying the findings in the SEC’s order. This enforcement action is the result of the joint efforts of the SEC and the Massachusetts Securities Division, which also brought related charges against the Evergreen entities today.    » read more »

Former CEO Angelo Mozilo Additionally Charged With Insider Trading

Washington, D.C., June 4, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged former Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo and two other former executives with securities fraud for deliberately misleading investors about the significant credit risks being taken in efforts to build and maintain the company's market share.

Mozilo was additionally charged with insider trading for selling his Countrywide stock based on non-public information for nearly $140 million in profits.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., June 3, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced finalized settlements with Bank of America, RBC Capital Markets, and Deutsche Bank to resolve SEC charges that the firms misled investors regarding the liquidity risks associated with auction rate securities (ARS) that they underwrote, marketed, or sold.

The SEC's Division of Enforcement previously announced preliminary settlements with Bank of America and RBC on Oct. 8, 2008. Today's finalized settlements with those two firms as well as Deutsche Bank provide nearly $6.7 billion to approximately 9,600 customers who invested in ARS before the market for those securities froze in February 2008.    » read more »

New York, June 2, 2009 - JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) today announced that it priced an offering of 142.0 million shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $35.25 per share, or $5 billion in the aggregate. J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. served as sole bookrunning manager and underwriter for the transaction.

The underwriter will have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 21.3 million shares of common stock from the company, solely to cover over-allotments. The closing is expected to occur on or about June 5, 2009, subject to customary closing conditions.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a global financial services firm with assets of $2.1 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries.

Source: JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Washington, D.C., June 1, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the Fair Fund distribution of more than $78 million to more than 590,000 investors who were affected by undisclosed market timing in certain AIM mutual funds.

The Fair Fund distribution stems from a prior SEC enforcement action against AIM Advisors, Inc., which advised the funds, and AIM Distributors, Inc. (ADI), which distributed the funds. In addition, this distribution includes money from two other Fair Funds, which are related to separate unlawful market timing enforcement actions that affected AIM investors.    » read more »

New index reflects all U.S. publicly-traded ADRs, Offers key tool to separately managed account (SMA) managers

NEW YORK, May 26 — The Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) announced last week the launch of The Bank of New York Mellon Classic ADR Index(SM) and 34 subindices, including two market, three regional, 10 sector and 19 country indices.

The Bank of New York Mellon Classic ADR Index comprises all American depositary receipts (ADR), New York Shares and Global Registered Shares that trade on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Alternext US, NASDAQ and over-the-counter (OTC). All indices are calculated on a continuous basis throughout the trading day, are capitalization-weighted and adjusted for free-float, using Dow Jones' current methodology.    » read more »

Scheme Also Put Municipal Employee Paychecks at Risk

Washington, D.C., May 14, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two New Jersey men with orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that sold unregistered securities and commingled investor funds with their payroll service used by New Jersey municipalities and small businesses.

The SEC alleges that Paul G. Bultmeyer and Arthur J. Piacentini carried out the fraud through their firms Sherbourne Capital Management, Ltd. and Sherbourne Financial, Ltd. by offering and selling so-called "Prime Certificates of Participation" they advertised in print publications as well as on Craigslist and other Internet sites.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., May 8, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that Michael Lauer, the head of two Connecticut-based hedge fund advisors, has been ordered to pay more than $62 million within 15 days as a result of being found liable on SEC fraud charges last fall.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra for the Southern District of Florida found that Lauer, head of Lancer Management Group and Lancer Management Group II, must pay more than $43.6 million to deprive him of his ill-gotten gains, and more than $18.9 million in prejudgment interest.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., April 27, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today obtained an emergency court order to freeze the assets of a Connecticut-based money manager and the hedge funds that he controls, alleging that he forged documents, promised false returns, and misrepresented assets managed by the funds to illicitly raise more than $30 million from investors.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., April 13, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged an El Segundo, Calif.-based promoter and her firm for operating a $23 million Ponzi scheme that purported to use investor funds to invest in risk-free, high-yield investment programs involving bank trading, oil and gold exploration, or real estate.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., March 26, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency court order halting a $68 million Ponzi scheme involving the sale of fictitious high-yield certificates of deposit (CDs) by Caribbean-based Millennium Bank.    » read more »