Investment Fraud Lawyer Blog

Auditors find themselves on the “hot seat” as a result of the SEC’s recent mandate that corporations and other institutional investors report investment holdings based on a “market value” basis. As 2008 came to a close, many companies and institutional investors were hoping that the SEC would suspend the “fair-value” accounting rules that require companies to report actual market values for illiquid securities. Last week, those hopes were dashed. On December 31, 2008, the SEC announced that it would require mark-to-market valuations for these holdings and many companies are now facing significant write-downs. Under FAS 157 (the fair-value accounting rule), market value is defined as the price that would be receive to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.”

Continue reading ""Fair Value Accounting Rule" Puts Auditors on the "Hot Seat"" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auction Rate Securities , Bonds , Brokerage Firms , Market Developments , Money Market Funds , Regulatory Developments , Smart Investing Tools , Subprime Mortgage & Collateralized Debt Obligation Problems

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There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 184 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 108 points and closed the year at 8776.39.

• On Thursday, the market was closed.

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 258 points and closed the week at 9035.

Continue reading "Page Perry's Market Monitor - January 2, 2009" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bank of America , Brokerage Firms , Citigroup/Smith Barney , Employment Issues , Goldman Sachs , J. P. Morgan Chase , Market Developments , Merrill Lynch , Morgan Stanley , Municipal Bonds , Regulatory Developments , Smart Investing Tools , SunTrust , Wachovia , Wells Fargo

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Unless you are one of the lucky few who did not lose a significant amount of value in your investments during 2008, you should scrutinize your accounts for undue risk and potential abuses. At year-end, stocks are down on average over 30%, bonds about 18%. Economic conditions continue to deteriorate. There is considerable risk to both stocks and bonds going forward for a number of reasons, including the fact that the federal reserve’s attempt to slay the dragon of deflation by printing money like mad may well conjure up the evil genie of inflation. See Is the Medicine Worse Than the Illness?, by James Grant, Wall Street Journal, December 20, 2008.

Continue reading "Investors Need to Scrutinize their Year-end Brokerage Statements" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bonds , Brokerage Firms , Common Securities Broker Abuses , Market Developments , Smart Investing Tools

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Most disputes between brokerage firms and clients are resolved through arbitrations sponsored by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). Due to various events that have occurred over the last 18 months, the number of arbitration disputes has jumped dramatically and there is a serious shortage of arbitrators to hear these disputes.

Continue reading "FINRA Needs Arbitrators" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Market Developments , Securities Arbitration , Smart Investing Tools

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The demise of effective regulation by the SEC together with the current administration’s philosophy of deregulation and the reluctance of courts and arbitration panels to enforce the law is undermining the public’s confidence in the integrity of the U.S.. capital markets.

Continue reading "CNN Poll Confirms Public's Distrust of Wall Street" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brokerage Firms , Common Securities Broker Abuses , Market Developments , Securities Arbitration

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There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 65 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 360 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 100 points.

• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 219 points.

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 26 points and closed the week at 8579.

Continue reading "Page Perry's Market Monitor - December 19 , 2008" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bonds , Brokerage Firms , Common Securities Broker Abuses , Market Developments , Smart Investing Tools

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On Thursday, December 11, 2008, the presses started buzzing with the news that Bernard Madoff confessed to running what may be the largest and longest “Ponzi scheme” in history. According to reports, Madoff swindled investors out of an estimated $50 billion over 30 years.

This past week the details continued to surface, revealing new victims and touching what may be the tip of the iceberg as to the complexity and scope of this scheme. The records that were supposedly kept are in disarray, and no one yet knows the scope of the damage Madoff caused. According to the Wall Street Journal, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox stated that Madoff “kept several sets of books and false documents, and provided false information involving his advisory activities to investors and to regulators.” With the media frenzy and panic, investors need to carefully evaluate their options and avoid a knee-jerk reaction.

Continue reading "Some Tips for Victims of the Madoff Ponzi Scheme" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brokerage Firms , Common Securities Broker Abuses , Market Developments , Regulatory Developments , Smart Investing Tools

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There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 299 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 243 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 70 points.

• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 196 points.

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 65 points and closed the week at 8629.68.

Continue reading "Page Perry's Market Monitor - December 12 , 2008" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brokerage Firms , Employment Issues , Market Developments , Smart Investing Tools

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There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:

• On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 680 points.

• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 263 points.

• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 173 points.

• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 215 points.

• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 259 points and closed the week at 8635.

Continue reading "Page Perry's Market Monitor - December 5 , 2008" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bank of America , Brokerage Firms , Credit Suisse , Employment Issues , Market Developments , Merrill Lynch , Smart Investing Tools

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Right before the stock market fell off a cliff in September, the news media were filled with stories about the regulators forcing investment banks to settle the claims of individual investors whose assets were stuck in frozen auction rate securities. It turns out, however, that many investors have fallen through the cracks.

Obviously, the largest group of investors that have been ignored are large institutional and corporate investors that have typically been excluded from auction rate settlements notwithstanding the fact that they were not provided with full disclosure and material information was withheld from them. Most of these investors will have to decide whether to take legal action in order to protect themselves and their shareholders.

Continue reading "Not All Auction Rate Securities Investors Are Getting Their Money Back" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Auction Rate Securities , Brokerage Firms , Oppenheimer , Raymond James , Regulatory Developments , Wells Fargo

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Swiss bank Credit Suisse has announced additional job cuts of 5,300. According to Reuters, the bank also announced a $2.5 billion loss in October and November, primarily in investment banking. The bank blamed the loss on adverse market conditions and risk reduction.

These job cuts represent 11% of Credit Suisse's total headcount of 50,300. They will be implemented "across all divisions throughout the bank" by the end of the second quarter of 2009. The investment banking business will suffer two-thirds of the job cuts as its staff is reduced from 21,300 to 17,500 by the end of 2009. These cuts include the already announced cut of 650 investment banking jobs in Brittan and 170 jobs in Asia.

Continue reading "Additional Job Cuts on Wall Sreet" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brokerage Firms , Credit Suisse , ERISA Fiduciaries and Claims , Employment Issues , Lehman Brothers , Market Developments , UBS

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Recently many investors in variable annuities have experienced unanticipated losses. Since some people purchase variable annuities based on the assumption that they are immune to market fluctuations, many have learned the hard way that, like mutual funds, variable annuities invested in equity "sub-accounts" can lose significant value. However, if a variable annuity is sold to a customer with a promise of safety or without adequate disclosure of risk, the customer may have valid legal claims for fraud or misrepresentation.

Continue reading "Is Your Variable Annuity Safe ?" »

Posted by Page Perry, LLC | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brokerage Firms , Early Retirement Scams , Elder Abuses , Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities

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