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

Displaying 11-20 out of 30 results for "Short".

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - February 14th, 2014

(Feb 2014)

SEC Charges James Y. Lee for Defrauding His Advisory Clients
February 14, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22927)
According to the complaint, James Y. Lee defrauded his advisory clients in several ways including "charg[ing] some clients fees...based on false performance and conceal[ing] from them that they had actually incurred realized losses," failing to disclose information about his background including "a criminal conviction for embezzlement and an SEC cease-and-desist order for his role in...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - February 7th, 2014

(Feb 2014)

Court of Appeals Denies Stay of Order Compelling Investigative Testimony; Affirms District Court's Exercise of Discretion
February 6, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22920)
This week the court issued a "summary order denying Edward Daspin's motion for a stay" on a December 2013 order. This means that Daspin is required "to appear for investigative testimony in compliance with an SEC investigative subpoena" and was denied a "request that the SEC be required to pay for Daspin's physician to attend...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - January 10th, 2014

(Jan 2014)

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Diamond Foods, Inc.
January 9, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22902)
According to the complaint, Diamond Foods, Inc. manipulated walnut costs to report "higher net income and inflated earnings to exceed analysts' estimates for fiscal quarters in 2010 and 2011." According to the complaint against Diamond's former CFO, Steven Neil, Neil "directed the effort to fraudulently underreport money paid to walnut growers." Diamond's former CEO, Michael Mendes, has...

Are Managed Futures a License to Steal?

(Dec 2013)

Bloomberg's David Evans raised this question in his recent Fleeced by Fees. David found that 89% of the futures trading profits and interest on collateral in 63 SEC-registered managed futures funds from 2003 to 2012 were consumed by fees and commissions. David's story shines a light on the abusive fees charged by the managed futures partnerships. His story quotes a spokesperson for the National Futures Association self-regulatory organization / trade group as saying that "We can't just give...

Self-Indexing in Commodity-Linked Investments - Citi CUBES

(Dec 2013)

Over the past few weeks and months, we've noticed a pattern in the products coming across our desks: structured investments linked to esoteric proprietary indexes, created by the same bank that issued the product. We touched on this topic a bit when we discussed self-indexing in the context of structured certificates of deposit, but we thought we'd revisit the issue with a few of the examples that we've been looking into more recently. The examples we'll discuss each reference a proprietary...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - December 6th, 2013

(Dec 2013)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Massachusetts-Based Broker and Investment Adviser
December 5, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22885)
Final judgments were entered against Arnett L. Waters and two entities he controlled, "broker-dealer A.L. Waters Capital, LLC and investment adviser Moneta Management, LLC," for their alleged involvement in the "fraudulent sales of fictitious investment-related partnerships." The final judgment enjoins the defendants from future violations of the securities laws...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - December 2nd, 2013

(Dec 2013)

SEC Charges Weatherford International with FCPA Violations
November 26, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22880)
According to the complaint, oilfield services company Weatherford International violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by "authorizing bribes and improper travel and entertainment for foreign officials in the Middle East and Africa to win business, including kickbacks in Iraq to obtain United Nations Oil-for-Food contracts." The company allegedly earned more than "$59.3 million in...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - November 8th, 2013

(Nov 2013)

SEC Charges Royal Bank of Scotland Subsidiary with Misleading Investors in Subprime RMBS Offering
November 7, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22866)
According to the complaint, RBS Securities Inc. (a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland plc) misled investors "in a 2007 subprime residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) offering" by stating that the "loans backing the offering 'generally' met the lender's underwriting guidelines." According to the SEC, nearly 30 percent of the loans "fell...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review (Part II) - October 4th, 2013

(Oct 2013)

SEC Obtains Asset Freeze and Other Emergency Relief in Ponzi Scheme Targeting Investors in Japan
October 3, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22832)
The SEC was granted a temporary restraining order, asset freeze and other emergency relief againstEdwin Yoshihiro Fujinaga and his company MRI International, Inc.. Fujinaga allegedly raised more than $800 million from investors through MRI, an allegedly "fraudulent Ponzi scheme designed to misappropriate money from investors. "The defendants...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - July 19th, 2013

(Jul 2013)

Court Finds Massachusetts-Based Viking Financial Group, Inc. and its Owner Steven Palladino Liable for Violations of the Securities Laws
July 18, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22752)
The federal district court in Massachusetts "held that...Steven Palladino, and his...company, Viking Financial Group, Inc., committed securities fraud." According to the SEC, "since April 2011, Palladino and Viking falsely promised at least 33 investors that their money would be used to conduct the business of...

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