Posts belonging to Category Consumer Class Actions
Posted by Page PerryonApril 28, 2011
In a decision issued on April 27, 2011 by a Supreme Court perceived (rightly or wrongly) as favoring the interests of businesses over consumers, the Court held in AT&T v. Concepcion that the Federal Arbitration Act preempted a judicially-created rule applied by the California courts to strike down mandatory arbitration provisions in consumer contracts that […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Consumer Class Actions, Investment Advisers, Regulatory Developments, Securities/Commodities Arbitration
Posted by Page PerryonOctober 16, 2009
A four-year class action lawsuit brought on behalf of hundreds of thousands of American consumers against insurance giant Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America has come to a confusing and contradictory end, reported the Minnesota StarTribune in its October 14, 2009 article entitled, “A split decision in Allianz Life annuity lawsuit.” Or has it? […]
Categories: Consumer Class Actions, Insurance Products, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Page PerryonFebruary 21, 2009
Scammed investors are often shocked to discover that they face insurmountable barriers when they seek to recover their losses in court, says Jane Bryant Quinn in a February 11, 2009 article on Bloomberg.com entitled “Madoff Victims Face Grim Prospects in Court.” Investors have filed suits against “feeder funds” that, unbeknownst to investors, funneled their money […]
Categories: Common Securities Broker Abuses, Consumer Class Actions, Regulatory Developments, Securities Class Actions, Securities/Commodities Arbitration
Posted by Page PerryonJuly 29, 2008
In an article in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Andy Miller reported that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia (“Blue Cross”), Georgia’s largest health insurer, sent an estimated 202,000 “Explanation of Benefit” (“EOB”) and other letters to the wrong addresses last week, exposing patient names, social security numbers, medical conditions, treatment information, and other health and […]
Categories: Consumer Class Actions
Posted by Page PerryonFebruary 18, 2008
Andrew Frye of Bloomberg.com has reported that the North American subsidiary of Allianz, Europe’s largest insurer, has agreed to a settlement with California’s insurance regulator under which it will pay $10.1 million and change its annuities sales practices. California alleged that Allianz misled investors and pushed unsuitable products onto thousands of elderly persons. In a […]
Categories: Consumer Class Actions, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Page PerryonFebruary 15, 2008
On February 7, 2008, the American Equity Investment Life Holding Company reached a settlement of a lawsuit over variable annuities with the Minnesota Attorney General. Hennepin County District Court Judge Kevin S. Burke approved the settlement that resolved all the issues raised in the lawsuit. The settlement’s two primary components are (i) a defined suitability […]
Categories: Consumer Class Actions, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Page PerryonFebruary 12, 2008
According to an article in Business Week in the Fall of 2007, equity-indexed annuities ? which lets the investors share in the stock market gains with a minimal risk of loss ? are getting the worst press and the most regulatory scrutiny of any financial product pitched to individual investors. Most of the regulatory scrutiny […]
Categories: Consumer Class Actions, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Page PerryonOctober 12, 2007
On October 10, 2007, a panel of federal judges denied a motion to centralize five Allianz class action lawsuits currently pending against Allianz related to its deferred annuity sales practices. Plaintiffs’ counsel in two of the five cases filed the motion in the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“MDL Panel”). Allianz, along with plaintiffs’ counsel […]
Categories: Consumer Class Actions, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities