Blog

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

Displaying 9 out of 9 results for "Weekly Regulatory Review".

UBS Puerto Rico's COFINA Conflicts Were Even Worse Than ERS Conflicts

(Oct 2016)

We have written extensively about the wreckage caused by UBS's business model in Puerto Rico. See "UBS Puerto Rico's Bond Fund Debacle: What We Know so Far" and "Lo que Sabemos hasta Ahora de la Debacle de los Fondos de Bonos UBS Puerto Rico". All our Puerto Rico posts are available in English and in Spanish.

UBS's Farm-to-Table business model included encouraging the Employee Retirement System ("ERS") and other entities in Puerto Rico to issue bonds when no viable market except for UBS's...

This is why UBS paid the SEC $15 Million over Reverse Convertible Structured Products

(Sep 2016)

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a $15 million settlement with UBS over structured products linked to high volatility stocks today. The SEC press release announcing the settlement and its Order Instituting Proceedings are available on the SEC website. This post explains the underlying notes and why UBS may have paid the SEC a substantial settlement over sales practices related to UBS's reverse convertible notes ("RCNs").

UBS sold thousands of structured notes to retail...

Another Bad Broker Falsifying his BrokerCheck

(Jul 2016)

Recently we posted about two brokers who had not disclosed that customer complaints had been adjudicated to arbitration awards in favor of the clients but rather continued to report them as pending up to 15 months after the arbitration award was rendered (Bad Brokers Falsify Their BrokerCheck Records and No One Notices) and showed that FINRA corrected these two brokers' BrokerCheck records (Bad Brokers' Incorrect Records Got Partially Corrected Last Week). Last week we identified a few more...

Have 1.3% or 7.3% of Stock Brokers Engaged in Misconduct?

(May 2016)

In our recent working paper How Widespread and Predictable is Stock Broker Misconduct? we reconcile estimates of misconduct, demonstrate that broker misconduct is predictable and explain that ostensibly publicly available BrokerCheck data could be used to help investors avoid bad brokers and bad brokerage firms if only it were made truly public instead of only speciously so.

Jason Zweig's recent column in the Wall Street Journal Is Your Broker Good or Bad? discussed our research problem. In...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - April 8th, 2016

(Apr 2016)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Charges Four in Fraudulent "Free Dinner" Scheme
April 4, 2016 (Litigation Release No. 63)
Joseph Andrew Paul, John D. Ellis, Jr., James S. Quay and Donald H. Ellison were charged for embezzling money from victims by soliciting a "free dinner" scheme, splitting the victims' money amongst themselves instead of on investments they proclaimed had high returns. Quay has previous convictions of fraud, and both Quay and Ellison have questionable registrations as...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - April 1st, 2016

(Apr 2016)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

Securities Professional Charged With Defrauding Institutional Investors
March 28, 2016 (Litigation Release No. 58)
The SEC has charged Andrew W.W. Caspersen for embezzling approximately $95 million from two institutions. Caspersen deceived and offered promissory notes issued by Irving Place II SPV LLC, a name deceptively similar to a legitimate private equity fund Irving Place Capital Partners III SPV that is in no way associated with Caspersen. The U.S. Attorney's...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - March 18th, 2016

(Mar 2016)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Approves 2016 PCAOB Budget and Accounting Support Fee
March 14, 2016 (Litigation Release No. 51)
The SEC approved the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) annual budget and accounting support fee for 2016 which is a task that SEC is required to do annually according to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was established in efforts of the SEC to oversee and approve the PCAOB's accounting support fee and budget which funds its...

Ohio Division of Securities, In the Matter of Timothy K. Fife - Ohio IA Registration to be Revoked

(Feb 2016)

In February 2016, after evidentiary hearings, the Hearing Examiner recommended that Timothy Fife's investment adviser representative registration be revoked. The Report and Recommendation is available on our website. Fife's registration is being revoked because he provided investment advice and initiated securities transactions while not licensed in Ohio and because he recommended the unsuitable purchase and holding for extended periods of time of leveraged and inverse ETFs. Dr. McCann ...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - January 15th, 2016

(Jan 2016)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Announces 2016 Examination Priorities
January 11, 2016 (Litigation Release No. 4)
The SEC has announced its new 2016 priorities for its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. The new priorities center around liquidity controls, public pension advisers, product promotion, exchange-traded funds, and variable annuities.

Julie M. Riewe, Co-Chief of Asset Management Unit, to Leave SEC After 10 Years of Service
January 11, 2016 (Litigation Release No. 5)...

9 Results

1