News Corp, Murdoch Avoid Lawsuit Over Phone Hacking
News Corp and its Chairman, Robert Murdoch, avoided a lawsuit last week. U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe dismissed a suit alleging that News Corp defrauded shareholders by hiding widespread, illegal phone hacking at two of its British newspapers, stating that defendants could not be held liable for statements that predated the period for which shareholders […]
Dewey Staff’s Guilty Pleas Shine Light On Alleged Fraud
Recently, more details on an alleged scheme to conceal the actual financial condition of Dewey & LeBoeuff LLP were uncovered when a judge revealed the identities and statements of former employees who pleaded guilty to engaging in the fraud. The former employees include accountants, billing staff, and back-office workers. The statements maintain that the employees […]
Rajat Gupta Loses Appeal On Insider Trading Charges
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the verdict against Rajat Gupta, the former Managing Director of McKinsey & Company. Gupta was convicted on charges of insider trading last year, being found guilty on three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy. The court sentenced Gupta to two years […]
SEC Fraud Trial Regarding Texas Tycoon Samuel Wyly Finally To Start
Samuel Wyly, a Texas investor, and the estate of his late brother, Charles, will go to trial this week against the SEC after years of accusations that they engaged in a $550 million fraud. Many believe that this is the biggest test the SEC will face this year in holding individuals accountable at trial. The […]
Bugatti-Driving 26-Year-Old Linked To Penny-Stock Website
For a number of years, many had wondered who operated one of the biggest penny-stock websites, but now a lawsuit has linked John Babikian, a Bugatti-driving 26-year-old, to the site. Babikian used AwesomePennyStocks, an email list, to boast stock in a coal company while selling his own shares, according to the SEC. Over five years, […]
Bank Of America To Pay $9.3 Billion To Settle Mortgage Bond Claims
Bank of America has agreed to pay $9.3 billion to settle claims with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after selling the institutions faulty mortgage bonds. The Federal Housing Finance Agency alleged that Bank of America misrepresented the worth of loans underlying residential mortgage-backed securities bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from 2005 to 2007. […]
Arbitrator Lies About Being A Lawyer, Booted
James H. Frank of Santa Barbara, California may have jeopardized the outcomes of almost forty securities arbitrations, some of which date back to more than fifteen years. According to a FINRA spokeswoman, Frank misrepresented himself as being a lawyer and a member of the bar in a number of states. FINRA removed Frank from its […]
How To File A Claim With FINRA
In order to begin the arbitration process, a party should file a Statement of Claim with FINRA. This party is called the “claimant.” The party against whom the Statement is filed is called the respondent. The Statement of Claim itself should be thorough and include as many details as possible relating to the claim. This […]
FINRA Warns Against Leveraged ETFs
Several brokerage firms have stopped selling leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs) after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. warned brokers that they “typically are unsuitable for retail investors” who hold them longer than a day . Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are funds that track indexes like the NASDAQ-100 Index, S&P 500, Dow Jones, etc. When […]
What Is FINRA?
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) is a self-regulatory organization, a non-governmental organization that performs financial regulation of member brokerage firms and exchange markets. FINRA’s mission is to protect investors by making sure the United States securities industry operates fairly and honestly . FINRA operates the largest arbitration forum in the United States for […]