Securities

Feb. 25, 2009 -- NEW YORK - Lev L. Dassin, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Joseph M. Demarest, Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Division, announced today that Paul Greenwood, 61, of North Salem, N.Y., and Stephen Walsh, 64, of Sands Point, N.Y., were arrested this morning on conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud charges.    » read more »

February 27, 2009 -- Citigroup is planning to strengthen its capital structure through conversion of a significant portion of its preferred securities to common equity in a series of exchange offers. Citigroup requested that the Treasury participate in this exchange offer by converting a portion of its preferred security to common equity alongside the other preferred holders.

Treasury is willing to participate in this arrangement to the extent Citigroup is able to reach agreement with its other preferred holders, under the following conditions:

* Treasury would convert its security to match dollar for dollar the private preferred exchanges.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Mark Bloom and his firm North Hills Management LLC with securities fraud, and obtained an emergency court order to freeze their assets and halt an alleged investment scheme involving the marketing of a "fund of funds" investment vehicle.    » read more »

February 20, 2009 -- Saint Paul – Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty today reminded Minnesotans who were victims of the alleged Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff that they must file a formal claim with the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) by Wednesday, March 4.

Last month, Governor Pawlenty wrote a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman about the Madoff case and recently received a response from SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Robert Allen Stanford and three of his companies for orchestrating a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme centering on an $8 billion CD program.

Stanford's companies include Antiguan-based Stanford International Bank (SIB), Houston-based broker-dealer and investment adviser Stanford Group Company (SGC), and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management. The SEC also charged SIB chief financial officer James Davis as well as Laura Pendergest-Holt, chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group (SFG), in the enforcement action.    » read more »

Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2009 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. and two of its former investment adviser representatives with securities laws violations for misleading pension consulting clients about its money manager identification process and failing to disclose conflicts of interest when recommending them to use two of the firm's affiliated services. Merrill Lynch has agreed to settle the SEC's charges and pay a $1 million penalty.    » read more »

Cuomo Today Announces His Office is Focusing Attention on other Industry Players Including JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia

NEW YORK, NY (August 11, 2008) - New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced his office is expanding its investigation into the auction rates securities scandal. Cuomo today sent letters to JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wachovia announcing that his office will look into the firms’ behavior pertaining to misrepresenting auction rate securities to investors as safe, cash-equivalent products, when in fact they faced increasing liquidity risk.

Last week Cuomo’s office secured landmark agreements with UBS and Citigroup that will return over $20 billion to investors across New York State and the nation.    » read more »

Auction Rate Security Investors Recover Billions

August 8, 2008 -- NEWARK -- New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced today that the N.J. Bureau of Securities, as part of a national task force with other state regulators, and the Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement with UBS Securities LLC and UBS Financial Services, Inc. that will give thousands of UBS clients, including New Jersey investors, access to billions of dollars in funds that have been frozen in the auction rate securities (ARS) market.    » read more »

May 23, 2008 -- COLUMBUS – The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which has been prosecuting a securities class action case against American International Group, Inc. (AIG) and 22 other defendants for more than three years, announced its intention to add claims relating to AIG’s recent multi-billion dollar write-downs stemming from its exposure to problems in the residential housing market.    » read more »

May 13, 2008 -- LANSING – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that with the assistance of the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR), the federal agency obtained an emergency court order freezing the assets of Gregory N. McKnight of Swartz Creek, MI, an alleged perpetrator, of an Internet fraud scheme that reaped approximately $72 million from more than 3,000 investors in all 50 states and at least 30 foreign countries.    » read more »

BALTIMORE, MD (May 8, 2008) - Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today that Kevin Thomas Forrester, 32, former operator of Forrester Financial Group in Phoenix, pled guilty before the Honorable Robert E. Cahill, Jr. in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County to felony theft and fraudulent securities practices.    » read more »

January 9, 2008 -- LAS VEGAS -- Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced today that District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzales sentenced Nancy Nash to serve 4 to 10 years in Nevada State prison, with an equal and consecutive term of 4 to 10 years as an elder enhancement penalty, in connection with her plea of guilty to feloniously operating a continuing legal enterprise to sell unregistered securities to elderly victims in Nevada.    » read more »

07 January 2008 -- China has eased a ban on foreign investments in its securities industry and Singapore's economy shrank for the first time in four years in the fourth quarter.

Beijing announced new rules that allow single foreign investors to buy up to 20 percent of Chinese securities firms. Total foreign ownership is limited to 25 percent, and securities companies must have at least one Chinese owner who holds 33 percent or more.

Chinese regulators banned foreign investments in domestic securities houses in 2005, when Beijing began overhauling the brokerage sector.    » read more »

Dec. 6, 2007 -- Reno — Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto announced today the guilty plea in Washoe County District Court of James Yim to securities fraud for making an untrue statement and of failure to disclose a material fact related to the sale of securities. Conviction for such a crime carries a potential penalty of imprisonment from 1 to 10 years in Nevada State Prison and/or a fine of not more than $500,000, and payment of restitution. The case was investigated by the Secretary of State's Office and referred to the Attorney General’s Office for prosecution.    » read more »

Issuance is First Security Backed by FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Loans

November 9, 2007 -- Washington, DC - Today, the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) announced the first issuance of its new Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Mortgage-Backed Security (HMBS). The $116 million issuance is the first-ever government-guaranteed mortgage-backed security collateralized by Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured reverse mortgages (HECM).    » read more »