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Displaying 21-30 out of 33 results for "Private Placements".

SEC Charges Victorville, CA and Airport Authority with Securities Fraud

(May 2013)

Earlier this week, the SEC charged the City of Victorville, California and several other entities with municipal bond fraud. The charges relate to a $13.3 million 2008 bond offering by the Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA) Authority, which was intended to refinance an "ill-conceived" redevelopment project for airplane hangers at the former George Air Force Base, which closed in 1992.

Municipal bonds are sometimes considered among the safest investments available. Municipal bond...

Why So Many REITs?

(Apr 2013)

Real estate investment trusts (or REITs) have been all over the news recently. The value of many traded REITs has increased dramatically as the US housing market has recovered (see, for example, Vanguard's REIT ETF VNQ which is currently trading at or above pre-crisis levels). Many mortgage REITs have been making headlines for their rapid growth and potentially adverse effects on the financial system. And of course, non-traded REITs continue to see criticism for reasons we've highlighted...

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

(Apr 2013)

SEC Files Subpoena Enforcement Action Against Andrew Farmer and Iridium Capital, Ltd. for Failure To Produce Documents in Market Manipulation Investigation
April 18, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22680)
Last week, the SEC filed a subpoena enforcement action against Andrew Farmer and Iridium Capital, Ltd. "According to the filing, the SEC is investigating possible market manipulation in connection with transactions in the securities of Chimera Energy Corporation." Subpoenas were issued last...

Major Tenants-in-Common Sponsor Charged with Fraud

(Apr 2013)

Four former executives of DBSI, one of the largest sponsors of tenants-in-common (TIC) interests, have been indicted on 83 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and interstate transportation of stolen property. The indictment is seeking approximately $169 million in forfeiture of properties and assets, alleging that the executives misrepresented the financial condition of DBSI to potential investors. The executives named wereformer president Douglas Swenson, general counsel...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - April 5th, 2013

(Apr 2013)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Former Chief Investment Officer ofGibraltarAsset Management Group, LLC
April 3, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22665)
A final judgment was entered against Maurice G. Taylor in relation to charges that he collaborated with Garfield M. Taylor, Benjamin C. Dalley, Randolph M. Taylor, William B. Mitchell, and Jeffrey A. King in a "multi-million dollar Washington-area Ponzi scheme operated through Gibraltar Asset Management Group, LLC and Garfield Taylor, Inc." The...

Goldman Sachs Uses JOBS Act to Sidestep Volcker Rule

(Apr 2013)

Evan Weinberger at Law360 is reporting that Goldman Sachs may have found a way around the Volcker Rule--the ban on proprietary trading by banks, which also prohibits sponsoring hedge funds and private equity funds--by using another controversial regulatory measure, the 2012 JOBS Act (of which we have spoken before):

By setting up an independent business development company in which it will hold a minority stake and limited leverage exposures, Goldman will be able to engage in at least limited...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - March 15th, 2013

(Mar 2013)

Court Orders Former Prudential Securities Broker to Pay Over $763,000 Related to Deceptive Mutual Fund Market Timing Practices
March 13, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22643)
A final judgment was entered against Frederick J. O'Meally, a former registered representative of broker-dealer Prudential Securities Inc, for allegedly using "deceptive practices to evade blocks by mutual fund companies on his market timing trading." The judgment orders O'Meally to pay over $763,000 in disgorgement,...

Private Equity Fund Advisers Charged with Misleading Investors about Valuation and Performance

(Mar 2013)

Earlier this week, the SEC charged Oppenheimer Asset Management (OAM) and Oppenheimer Alternative Investment Management (OAIM) with misrepresenting the performance of the Oppenheimer Global Resource Private Equity Fund I L.P. (OGR) in their marketing materials. The SEC found that OGR's manager used his own valuation methodology to value the fund's largest investment, Cartesian Investors-A LLC ("Cartesian"), at a significant markup. This inflated valuation led to a ten-fold increase in OGR's...

SEC Examination Priorities 2013

(Feb 2013)

Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced their examination priorities for 2013 "to communicate with investors and registrants about areas that are perceived by the staff to have heightened risk, and to support the SEC's mission to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation."

For those that are unfamiliar, SEC staff conducts examinations of SEC registrants through their regional offices and headquarters

to determine...

SEC Litigation Releases: Week in Review - February 22nd, 2013

(Feb 2013)

SEC Charges Fund Manager in Scheme Involving Risky Mortgage-Related Investment
February 20, 2013, (Litigation Release No. 22622)
According to the complaint, George Charles Cody Price "raised $18 million for three investment funds through his firm ABS Manager LLC" promising investors that their investments were "secured by government-backed bonds yielding extraordinary double-digit returns as high as 18 percent per year." In reality, Price was allegedly "investing in one the riskiest tranches...

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