Colling, Gilbert, Wright & Carter Securites Fraud

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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Bank of America Agrees to pay $8.5 billion to Investors for Losses on Mortgage-Backed Securities

Today CNN reported Bank of America will pay $8.5 billion to investors who experienced losses from fraudulent mortgage securities. The securities, which represented an interest in pools of home mortgages, were sold to investors as highly rated investments. However, they collapsed along with the housing market. Investors later discovered that many of the supposedly highly rated mortgage pools, actually contained subprime or mortgages to borrowers with suspect credit.

This is the latest but likely not the last instance of a bank or brokerage agreeing to pay restitution and fines associated with misrepresented subprime debt. Just last week, regional brokerage Morgan Keegan announced it would pay $200 million to settle regulatory actions brought by the SEC, FINRA and five state securities commissions.

If you have lost money as a result in an investment backed by subprime mortgages, please contact our office today for a free case evaluation. Thank you.

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 6:45 AM

Monday, June 27, 2011

FINRA Attorney Fee Award Upheld by State Court

According to a June 27, 2011 article in the New York Law Journal, Investment firm International Capital & Management Co. must pay more than
$300,000 in attorney's fees after withdrawing claims in an arbitration against failed investment banking firm Bear Stearns & Co. (now JP Morgan Securities).

The judge in the case held hat, even though the contract did not provide for a fee award FINRA, both parties had effectively agreed to let FINRA award fees simply by requesting them in their Claim and Answer.

Although attorney fee awards are somewhat rare in arbitration, this recent ruling provides some hope for Claimants trying to get whole after losing money due to negligence or fraud by their broker or brokerage firm.

Labels: broker misconduct

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 8:12 AM

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Morgan Keegan Ordered to Pay $200 million to RMK Bond Fund Investors

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that Morgan Keegan & Co, Inc. has agreed to pay $200 million dollars to settle SEC, FINRA and Five State security commission claims arising from the marketing and sale of the Morgan Keegan RMK bond funds.

A copy of the FINRA press release may be found here.

Labels: breach fiduciary duty, broker misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation/omission

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 11:33 AM

Alabama Securities Commission Issues Consent Order (RMK Bond Funds)

Today, the Alabama Securities commission issued an adminstrative consent order involving Morgan Asset Managment, Morgan Keegan & Co and James E. Kelsoe. Kelso was the manager of the RMK Bond Funds. A copy of the Order may be found here.

Labels: broker misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation/omission

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 11:28 AM

Morgan Keegan Settles with SEC over RMK Bond Funds

Order Making Findings and Imposing Remedial Sanctions and a Cease-and Desist Order

Labels: breach fiduciary duty, broker misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation/omission

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 11:24 AM

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

JP Morgan to Pay $153.6 Million to Settle Mortgage Related Fraud Charges

According to recent Yahoo Finance article, JP Morgan Chase & Co. has agreed to pay $153.6 million to settle civil fraud charges brought by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Click here for the SEC release.

The commission alleged the company mislead buyers as to the risk associated with complex mortgage investments just before the housing market collapsed. Notable in the settlement was the provision that investors who were harmed will receive all of their money back. Also, the firm agreed to change the way it evaluates mortgage related investments.

As is typically the case in such regulatory settlements, the firm neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing under the settlement.

This is just the latest in a series of well-publicize settlements involving mortgage backed securities related fraud. Previously, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay approximately $550 million to settle a claim involving similar allegations.

If you have lose money as a result of a mortgage related investment, you may have a claim for damages. Please contact our office for a free case evaluation. Thank you.

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 11:38 AM

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Morgan Keegan Expected to Settle RMK Bond Fund Case for $200 Million

According to an article in today's the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to fine Morgan Keegan & Co. $200 million for the alleged fraudulent marketing and sale of the RMK family of bond funds. The SEC also charged Fund manager Jim Kelsoe with fruad.

Apparently Morgan Keegan had already accepted the fine as the parent company Regions Financial Corp. took a $200 million charge against its second quarter 2010 earnings.

The attorney's at Colling Gilbert are currently litigating and recovering investor losses related to RMK bond funds. If you have lost money in any of these funds, please contact us for a case evaluation. Thank you.

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 8:31 AM

Monday, June 13, 2011

Regions Bank Board Probes Its Executives for Possible Ommissions and Fraud

The board of directors of Regions Financial Corp is looking into allegations executives failed to timely disclose loans that were going into delinquency during the recent financial crisis.

Regions is the country's fourth largest Banks and the only one of its size that has not re-payed the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) money provided by the federal government when the banking system was near collapse.

In a separate matter, the SEC is still investigating whether Region's investment banking unit defrauded investors by selling securities related to submprime mortgages without proper disclosure. Observers expect the SEC investigation to result in a substantial settlement without an admission of any wrong doing. The company is also still dealing with a SEC complaint, against its brokerage affiliate Morgan Keegan, regarding the marketing and sale of the firm's proprietary bond funds.

If you have lost money in a Regions Morgan Keegan bond fund or other subprime related product, please contact our offices for a free case evaluation. Thank you.

Labels: broker misconduct, fraud, misrepresentation/omission

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 7:58 AM

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

PIMCO Loses $3.4 Billion on Lehman Brothers Investment

According to a June 7, Wall Street Journal article, Pacific Investment Management Co., (PIMCO) and fund manager Bill Gross took a big bet on Lehman Brothers and lost. According to the WSJ article, losses on Lehman bonds could exceed $3.4 billion, depending on the ultimate value the debt fetches in the pending bankruptcy proceeding.

PIMCO is one of the largest money managers for in the United States, managing funds for both individuals and institutions. It is but the latest victim of the Lehman Brothers fiasco that culminated with the firm's declaring bankruptcy on September 15, 2008.

The bankruptcy filing wiped out billions of dollars of investment capital, much of which was invested by retirees looking for income producing vehicles to fund their retirements. Many of these investors were told Lehman debt was a secure investment although there was mounting evidence in late 2007 and 2008, the firm may be in trouble and could possibly fail. That belief became more of a reality when investment banking giant Bear Stearns (now JP Morgan Securities) collapsed in March of 2008.

Much of the Lehman debt was packaged into structured products to camouflage the fact investors were really purchasing unsecured debt. Many brokers brought the new issues to market and recommended them to their retail clients seeking income. If you lost money as a result of purchasing a Lehman debt related investments in late 2007 or 2008, please contact our office for a case evaluation. Thank you.

Labels: broker misconduct, fraud, lack of due dilligance, misrepresentation/omission

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 9:45 AM

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

WFP Securities Folds Under the Weight of Medical Capital and Provident Royalties

WFP Securities of San Diego notified the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) this week it would be shutting down operations. According to documents filed in court proceedings, the firm had sold over $30 million dollars of private placements in Medical Capital Holdings, Inc. and Provident Royalties LLC. Both companies have been charged with fraud. Estimates place claims against WFP at approximately $14 million although a FINRA broker check for the firm indicates no claims currently in litigation.

WFP is just latest independent broker dealer to fail under the weight of private placement sales which have cost investors hundreds of millions of dollars. Investors have alleged the broker dealers did not due adequate due diligence before selling the placements to their clients.

If you have lost money due to an investment in Medical Capital, Provident Royalties or other private placements, please contact our office for a free case evaluation.

Labels: breach fiduciary duty, broker misconduct, fraud, lack of due dilligance, misrepresentation/omission

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 11:11 AM

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