Puerto Rico Municipal Bond Returns and Sunspots
(Apr 2017)
Introduction
Economists use a statistical procedure called regression analysis to determine whether there is a relationship between economic variables. For example, a labor economist might use regression analysis to determine whether there is a relationship between salaries and education after controlling for differences in job tenure and geographic region. An antitrust economist might use regression analysis to determine whether an attempted collusion in the airline industry effected prices...
UBS Puerto Rico Still Can't Shoot Straight
(Oct 2015)
We've written extensively about the investment carnage caused by UBS Puerto Rico's management and sales of closed end municipal bonds funds. A summary of our findings can be found here: UBS Puerto Rico's Bond Fund Debacle: What We Know So Far .
Others will have to decide whether UBS was just incompetent or also wolfishly indifferent to Puerto Rico investors but recent evidence demonstrates that UBS Asset Managers of Puerto Rico continues to be, at least, incompetent.
The fourteen closed end...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - September 21st, 2015
(Sep 2015)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Obtains $30 Million from Traders who Profited on Hacked News Releases
September 14, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 191)
Ukrainian-based firm Jaspen Capital Partners and their CEO Andriy Supranonok have agreed to settle charges that they profited off of hacked, nonpublic information. The SEC have charged 34 people in a scheme that allegedly hacked into newswire services and transmitted the stolen data to international traders. The traders allegedly generated over...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - August 10th, 2015
(Aug 2015)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Houston-Area Businessman in Ponzi Scheme
August 3, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 158)
Frederick Alan Voight, owner of F.A. Voight & Associates LP and DayStar Funding LP, has been charged with defrauding investors while operating a $114 million Ponzi scheme. As Ponzi scheme's tend to go, Voight's scheme was caught after he could not find enough new money to pay previous investors his promised 42% annual return rate. Recently, Voight raised $13.8 million...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - April 10th, 2015
(Apr 2015)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Firms and Individuals for Defrauding Investors in Cellular Licensing Scheme
April 6, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 57)
Twelve companies and six individuals have been charged with defrauding investors in a scheme involving falsely advertised securities based on licenses for cellular spectrum bands. The alleged orchestrators of the scheme are David Alcorn and Kent Maerki, cofounders of Janus Spectrum LLC. The SEC alleges that third-party fundraisers sold...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - March 2nd, 2015
(Mar 2015)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Goodyear with FCPA Violations
February 24, 2015(Litigation Release No. 38)
The SEC found Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company to be in violation with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) due to bribes paid by subsidiaries in Kenya and Angola to land tire sales. According to the SEC, Goodyear failed to prevent or detect over $3.2 million in bribes over a four-year period. Bribes were paid to employees of private companies and government-owned entities and...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - January 16th, 2015
(Jan 2015)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Direct Edge Exchanges With Failing to Properly Describe Order Types
January 12, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 2)
In the first case focused on stock exchange order types, the SEC has settled with the EDGA and EDGX exchanges for $14 million over charges that they did not accurately describe their order types. These exchanges, formerly owned by Direct Edge Holdings before being acquired by BATS Global Markets, were found to have offered multiple "price...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - December 19th, 2014
(Dec 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Massachusetts-Based Scientific Instruments Manufacturer with FCPA Violations Rules
December 15, 2014 (Litigation Release No. 280)
The SEC charged Bruker Corporation approximately $2.4 million for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Bruker Corporation had insufficient internal controls which lead to approximately $230,000 in improper payments to various Chinese government officials. The improper payments enabled Bruker to realize...
FINRA Enforcement Actions: Month in Review
(Jun 2014)
MAY 2014 SELECTED FINRA ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
FIRMS FINED
ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC (CRD #14020, Chicago, Illinois)
ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago LLC consented to a censure and $95,000 fine for allegedly failing "to report short interest positions to the New York Stock Exchange and FINRA on certain settlement dates, and submitt[ing] to FINRA an inaccurate short-interest position report." FINRA found that the firm's supervisory system did not provide for supervision reasonably designed to achieve...
Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - May 9th, 2014
(May 2014)
SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
SEC Charges Three Friends and Business Associates of Former Chairman of Home Diagnostics, Inc., in Insider Trading Scheme
May 7, 2014, (Litigation Release No. 22987)
John Campani, John Mullin, and Alan Posner have all been charged with trading on insider information concerning Nipro Corporation's acquisition of Home Diagnostics, Inc for combined profits of "more than $105,000." The defendants were allegedly tipped this information by former Chairman of the Board at...
