We are often asked what materials an attorney should bring to a large and complex, customer versus brokerage firm, securities arbitration hearing besides evidentiary documents. Below is a list of five things every practitioner should not be without: 1. Exhibit Binders and Tabs You’d be surprised how many attorneys come…
The stock market has been tumbling since announcements by HSBC and other banks that there is great concern about exposure to subprime mortgage defaults. Could this be the beginning of a potential giant mortgage securities fraud investigation? Maybe. Subprime mortgages are loans given to potential home buyers who are not…
Trustees have fiduciary duties to trusts. When stockbroker fraud has potentially been committed in a trust, what should the trustee do? Investigate. A trustee has the duty to investigate red flags of fraud or wrongdoing by stockbrokers and to pursue any legitimate claims for the trust’s benefit. Failure to investigate…
I received two very similar telephone calls this week from baby boomers who were worried that their elderly parents may have been the victim of stockbroker fraud by major Wall Street brokerage firms. Both of them had just learned of the issue. Ordinarily, we would analyze the brokerage statements and…
We thought huge, brazen insider trading cases went out with Gordon Gekko and Ivan Boesky in the eighties. Apparently not. The SEC charged 14 defendants with securities fraud in one of the boldest insider trading rings in recent years. A total of $15 million was misappropriated. UBS, Morgan Stanley and…
Bear Stearns was ordered to pay at least $125 million by a New York bankruptcy judge for failing to disclose to investors that Manhattan Investment Fund was committing hedge fund fraud and the firm was instead accepting Manhattan’s funds to cover Bear’s margin exposure. This is a huge decision. For…