Posts belonging to Category Bank of America
Posted by Page PerryonJune 20, 2011
Investors in today’s markets, particularly seniors, are caught between extremely low interest rates and the risk of pursuing higher returns they want or need. Brokerage firms are capitalizing on that dilemma by selling structured products as a way to earn above-market returns purportedly without market risk. But as Robert Powel, editor of MarketWatch’s Retirement Weekly, […]
Categories: Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Credit Suisse, Derivatives, Deutsche Bank, Elder Abuses, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, J. P. Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Regulatory Developments, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, UBS, Wachovia
Posted by Page PerryonJune 17, 2011
The Securities and Exchange Commission is broadening its investigation into the world of “built to fail” collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) by looking at Merrill Lynch’s CDO business, according to articles by Marian Wang of Pro Publica (“Merrill Lynch Investigated for CDO Deal Involving Magnetar”) and Kara Scannell of the Financial Times (“SEC Probes $1.5 Billion […]
Categories: Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Credit Default Swaps, Derivatives, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, J. P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Mortgage Backed Securities, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, UBS, Wachovia, Wells Fargo
Posted by Page PerryonJune 13, 2011
Retail investors in structured products that were sold as safe and secure investments have lost at least $113 billion, according to a report by the nonpartisan policy center Demos and The Nation Institute. “In my three decades of Wall Street experience, I have not seen any other product as absurdly destructive as retail investments linked […]
Categories: Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Elder Abuses, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Options, Regulatory Developments, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, UBS
Posted by Page PerryonJune 7, 2011
Defense-minded institutions that have long remained on the sidelines when defrauded have finally woken up and are jumping on the plaintiff-recovery bandwagon as they seek to protect themselves against a variety of wrongdoing, according to Vanessa O’Connell’s Wall Street Journal article entitled “Company Lawyers Sniff Out Revenue.” These actions include waves of claims against Wall […]
Categories: Asset Backed Securities, Auction Rate Securities, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Credit Default Swaps, Credit Suisse, Derivatives, Deutsche Bank, ERISA Fiduciaries and Claims, Goldman Sachs, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, J. P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Mortgage Backed Securities, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Preferred Stocks, Private Investments/Reg D, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, SunTrust, UBS
Posted by Page PerryonJune 3, 2011
Simply stated, senior investors (in fact, all investors) should be very leery of high-risk structured products. Author John Wasik, in conjunction with Demos and The Nation Institute, has published a white paper entitled “How Safe Are Your Savings? How Complex Derivative Products Imperil Seniors’ Retirement Security.” The paper’s focus is on structured products and how […]
Categories: Asset Backed Securities, Bank of America, Barclays, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Credit Default Swaps, Derivatives, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Goldman Sachs, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, J. P. Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Keegan, Morgan Stanley, Mortgage Backed Securities, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Options, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, UBS
Posted by Page PerryonMay 27, 2011
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC $4.5 million, and Merrill Lynch $3 million. The fines arise out of FINRA’s findings that the firms misrepresented historical delinquency rates in connection with the residential subprime mortgage securitizations (RMBS) that the firms underwrote and sold. Upon learning of the errors, Merrill […]
Categories: Asset Backed Securities, Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Credit Suisse, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Merrill Lynch, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mortgage Backed Securities, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Page PerryonMay 25, 2011
FINRA CEO Richard Ketchum recently stated that structured products are “areas of concern” for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), according to a Bloomberg article by Jesse Hamilton and Alexis Leondis entitled “Finra’s Ketchum Says Structured Products Are ‘Areas of Concern.’” If FINRA is concerned, it better act fast. “Sales of structured products rose 46 […]
Categories: Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, CDOs, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Credit Default Swaps, Derivatives, Elder Abuses, Goldman Sachs, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, J. P. Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Market Developments, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Regulatory Developments, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Structured Notes, UBS, Wachovia
Posted by Page PerryonApril 13, 2011
The Spanish bank, Banco Santander SA, agreed to pay $2 million to resolve charges that its Puerto Rico-based brokerage improperly sold a group of structured products known as reverse convertibles to retail customers, including the elderly. (“Sale of reverse convertibles dings another B-D,” InvestmentNews, April 12, 2011).
Categories: Ameriprise, Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, Morgan Keegan, Morgan Stanley, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, UBS
Posted by Page PerryonApril 11, 2011
Structured products are little more than IOUs from issuers and brokers who have come up with complex ways to take investors’ money. They are marketed as “low risk and high yield” ? an oxymoron when dealing with stocks and the market. But to many older, fixed income investors and those tired of low interest money […]
Categories: Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Derivatives, Goldman Sachs, Investment Advisers, Investor Alerts, J. P. Morgan Chase, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, UBS, Wachovia, Wells Fargo
Posted by Page PerryonApril 8, 2011
Bank of America expects to face legal losses this year for anywhere from $145 million to $1.5 billion. And that is just what it can reasonably estimate. Most of these losses stem from the underwriting of mortgage-backed securities.
Categories: Bank of America, Brokerage Firms, Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities, Derivatives, Merrill Lynch, Money Market Funds, Mortgage Backed Securities, Mortgage Securities & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools
