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

Displaying 10 out of 40 results for "Weekly Regulatory Review".

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...

Pension Purchase Agreements; The worst "investment" in the world?

(Oct 2015)

In recent years, platforms for buying and selling pension benefit payments have been created and gained traction. Voyager Financial Group (VFG) operated one of the largest and most active exchanges for buying and selling pension payments. There is limited information available on the size of this market because these firms have operated under the radar of securities regulators.

In pension benefit agreements, a pensioner agrees to turn over a specific number of their future pension benefit...

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 - September 5th, 2015

(Sep 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Halts Ongoing Fraud in Minnesota
September 2, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 176)
James M. Louks and FiberPop Solutions Inc. are being charged with fraud and are being ordered to stop raising money from investors. Fiberpop was founded in 2003 as a builder and operator of fiber optic networks and data centers. The SEC alleges that although almost 100 investors were convinced to purchase notes to fund the company's business, Fiberpop has no operators or employees....

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - August 28th, 2015

(Aug 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Announces Asset Freeze against Alleged EB-5 Fraudster in Seattle Area
August 25, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 173)
Lobsang Dargey, owner of multiple "Path America" companies including Path America SnoCo and Path America KingCo, is accused of defrauding Chinese investors who were seeking American citizenship through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program. The EB-5 program states foreign citizens may qualify for U.S. residency if they make an investment of...

Why Citigroup Paid the SEC $180 Million Over MAT/ASTA

(Aug 2015)

I. Introduction

This week Citigroup paid $180 million to the SEC to settle allegations that Citigroup improperly sold high risk hedge funds known as MAT, ASTA and Falcon. The SEC Order is available to view online.

The SEC Order makes clear that Citigroup did not effectively monitor the portfolio manager or the sales force as it sold billions of dollars of high risk MAT ASTA funds with false and misleading sales presentations. In the end, Citigroup lost hundreds of wealthy clients and likely...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - August 14th, 2015

(Aug 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

Guggenheim Partners Investment Management LLC Settles Charges it Failed to Disclose Conflict to Clients
August 10, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 162)
The SEC has announced that charges against Guggenheim Partners Investment Management LLC have been settled for $20 million. The charges were over a breach of fiduciary duty in which Guggenheim failed to disclose a $50 million loan that an advisory client had given to a senior Guggenheim executive. The SEC order found...

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 - July 31st, 2015

(Jul 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Charges Three Penny Stock Promoters Behind Pump-and-Dump Schemes
July 21, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 152)
Former Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. employees: Scott A. Eisler, Arthur W. Lewis and Robert Okin, agreed to settle the SEC's charges involving unregistered sales of billions of shares of penny stocks on behalf of an Oppenheimer customer. Lewis and Okin failed to respond to red flags associated with sales that violated the federal securities laws and allowed...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - July 17th, 2015

(Jul 2015)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Announces Settlement With Cooperator in Grand Central Post-It Notes Insider Trading Case
July 13, 2015 (Litigation Release No. 143)
The SEC announced a settlement with Frank Tamayo for cooperating in a continuing insider trading investigation where illegal information was passed via Post-It notes at Grand Central Terminal. Tamayo was alleged to distributing received tips from a law firm clerk to a stockbroker that he would meet up with at Grand Central Terminal,...

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