Colling, Gilbert, Wright & Carter Securites Fraud

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Poor Regulation and Oversight Led to Morgan Keegan RMK Bond Fund Losses

According to a December 18, 2011 Memphis Commercial Appeal article, investor losses in the Morgan Keegan RMK family of bond funds could have been prevented had someone other than James Kelso Jr., the fund manager been watching the store. As it stands, investors, many of them retirees, lost close to a billion dollars when the funds crashed at the beginning of the credit and housing market meltdowns. Fund manager Kelso made significant and risky bets on sub prime mortgage paper and lost. Thousands of arbitration claims soon followed costing the firm millions in legal fees and FINRA arbitration awards. Now Regions Bank has put Morgan Keegan is up for sale but nobody is buying. Perhaps if state and federal securities regulators and Morgan Keegan's in-house compliance would have done more, there would have been a happier ending for all involved.

The full article appears here.

If you have lost money investing in any of the six Morgan Keegan RMK bond funds, please contact our office for a free consultation regarding your options for pursuing recovery of your losses. Thank you.

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

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 11:35 AM

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Judge Approves Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy Plan

Last week, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. received a federal judge’s approval to begin winding down the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. As part of the plan, the Trustee for the bankruptcy estate said he would begin distributing approximately $23 billion in available cash to creditors. The plan also calls for an orderly liquidation of the defunct firm's remaining assets, bringing the expected total for distribution to approximately $65 billion.

The company announced it will distribute some of the $23 billion to creditors in the first quarter, equating to roughly 18 cents on the dollar claimed for creditors and approximately 21 cents for senior bondholders.

The bankruptcy examiner's report indicated Lehman failed because of too much debt and risky real estate investments. When the firm filed for bankruptcy, on September 15, 2008, with approximately $613 billion in debt outstanding. The case is In re Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., 08-13555, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

The attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter have litigated and resolved dozens of Lehman Brothers claims through the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
arbitration system. Even with a 21 cent payout, bond and note holders are still out approximately 80% of their investment...much of which came in the form of Principal Protected and other Structured Notes.

If you have lost money in Lehman Brothers, please contact our office for a free case evaluation.

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 9:28 AM

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Too Big To Fail? Problems Still Exist with Big Financial Institutions

A December 8, 2011 Yahoo finance blog explores what has changed since the failure of investment banking firms Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers as well as government sponsored enterprises (GSE)Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to the article, the problems that caused the failures and the corresponding financial market meltdown still exist and in some instances, may be worse.

The full blog may be found here.

The attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter have filed and litigated dozens of FINRA arbitration claims to recover losses on behalf of investors who invested in the common stock and debt securities of financial service companies that failed in 2008. If you have lost money on an investment in Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, pleas contact our office for a free case evaluation. Thank you.

Labels: misrepresentation/omission, neg

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 10:08 AM

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Pacific West Securities Announces Closing of Firm

Pacific West Securities, an independent broker-dealer with about 290 registered representatives and financial advisers is shutting down due to lower revenues and increasing costs. The Broker-Dealer informed its brokers yesterday afternoon of the closing. It is believed the majority of the brokers will be moving to Multi-Financial Securities Corp.

As a result of the market and credit crisis in late 2007 and most of 2008, many independent broker-dealers have gone out of business or have been sold...many due to investor lawsuits surrounding the sale of private placements, limited partnerships and other high-risk, illiquid investments...many of which involved Medical Capital Holdings Inc. notes, Provident Royalties LLC preferred stock, and real estate notes issued by DBSI Inc.

The attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright and Carter are actively investigating and litigating investor claims for losses resulting from unsuitable private placements, TICs, limited partnerships and income funds. If you have lost money in any of these products, please contact our office for a free case evaluation. Thank you.

Labels: lack of due dilligance, misrepresentation/omission

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 6:37 AM

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

FINRA Sanctions Eight Brokerage Firms and Ten Individuals for Improperly Selling Private Placements

According to a Nov. 30, 2012 article in Financial Planning Magazine , The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has sanctioned eight firms and 10 individuals for selling interests in private placement offerings “without having a reasonable basis for recommending the securities,” the regulatory agency said in a statement. The sanctions included ordering more than $3.2million in total restitution.

The private placements involved in the regulatory actions include: Provident Royalties, Medical Capital Holdings, and DBSI. All of these investments eventually failed and went into receivership.

The basis for the sanctions included the failure on the firms to properly supervise their agents as well as inadequate due diligence on the investments themselves. FINRA has recently stepped up enforcement efforts in regards to the marketing and sale of private placements in the wake of individual investors losing billions of dollars during the real estate and credit market collapse in 2007 and 2008.

The firms include: NEXT Financial Group of Houston, Texas; Investors Capital Corporation of Lynnfield, Mass.; Garden State Securities of Red Bank, N.J.; Capital Financial Services of Minot, N.D.; National Securities Corporation of Seattle, Wash.; Equity Services of Montpelier, VT; Securities America of La Vista, Neb.; and
Newbridge Securities Corporation of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The individuals names include: Kevin John DeRosa, a co-owner of Garden State Securities; Matthew G. Portes, director of alternative investments and director of syndications for National Securities Corp.; Stephen Anthony Englese, senior vice president for securities operations for Equity Services; Brian W. Boppre, a former firm principal for Capital Financial Services; Robin Fran Bush, the former chief compliance officer for Newbridge Securities; Leroy H. Paris II, former president and chief executive officer of Meadowbrook Securities of Jackson, Miss.; and Michael D. "Trusty" Shaw, formerly with VSR Financial Services of Baton Rouge, La.,

The attorneys at Colling Gilbert Wright & Carter are investigating and litigating arbitration claims involving all of the direct private placements mentioned above as well as many other. If you have lost money in a private placement, please contact our office for a free case evaluation. Thank you.

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

posted by William B. Young Jr. Esq. at 9:05 AM

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