A Nevada based Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel awarded damages to a Nevada couple as a result of losses sustained in the Charles Schwab YieldPlus Fund. The panel awarded the Raymond and Elsie Kelly 100 percent of their net out of pocket losses of $74,430.77 plus interest at the rate of 3.25% per annum from July 8, 2008 through August 26, 2009, plus an additional $25,650.00 designated as attorney’s fees, and assessed the entire cost of the arbitration proceeding against Charles Schwab (SCHW).
“Although Charles Schwab represented the Schwab YieldPlus Fund Select Shares (SWYSX) and the Schwab YieldPlus Investor Shares (SWYPX) (the “YieldPlus Funds”) as safe conservative cash alternatives to investors, the evidence established that the YieldPlus funds were over concentrated in toxic mortgage backed securities,” said attorney Tom Hargett who represented the Kellys.
In July, a San Diego based FINRA arbitration panel awarded Everett Ross and his family 100% of their net out of pocket losses of $157,498 plus expert witness costs and assessed the entire cost of the arbitration against Schwab.
Schwab is facing many similar arbitration claims across the country. In addition, a California federal court recently certified the consolidated class action currently pending against Schwab. These arbitrations and actions allege that Charles Schwab misrepresented the Schwab YieldPlus Fund as a safe alternative to money market funds, and misrepresented or omitted other important facts about the funds, such as the fact that the fund’s holdings were over-concentrated in toxic mortgage backed securities.
“We continue to receive inquiries from investors who acquired the YieldPlus Fund as a result of Schwab’s misrepresentation of it as a suitable alternative to a money market fund,” said J. Boyd Page, a senior partner at Page Perry in Atlanta. “Our legal team continues to investigate and pursue investor arbitrations on behalf of investors who purchased the YieldPlus Fund,” he added.
The brokers who sold the Schwab Yield Plus fund are not targets of investor claims, according to the investors’ legal team which includes the firms of Aidikoff, Uhl & Bakhtiari, of Beverly Hills, Calif.; Maddox, Hargett & Caruso, P.C., of Indianapolis, Ind. and New York, N.Y.; Page Perry, of Atlanta, Ga.; and David P. Meyer & Associates Co., L.P.A., of Columbus, Ohio.
More information is available at http://www.subprimelosses.com/charles-schwab.php .