From Securities Arbitration Blawg:
FINRA recently reported its September 2009 arbitration statistics. As of September 30, 2009, 5,545 claims were filed, compared to only 3,471 as of September 30, 2008, an increase of 60%. FINRA also reported that 3,196 cases were closed through September and that the average turnaround time for cases that go to an arbitration hearing has declined by 9% (14.5 months from 16.0 months).
The most frequent claims/controversies involved continue to be breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation/fraud, negligence, and …

On October 5, 2009, FINRA reported that it will expand its “pilot” program that allows investors who file eligible claims to select an arbitration panel that consists of three “public” arbitrators, rather than the traditional panel comprised of two “public” arbitrators and one “non-public” arbitrator.
To accomplish this, FINRA has expanded the program to include cases against the following 14 broker-dealers (from 11 broker-dealers):

Chase Investment Services (10 cases);
Oppenheimer & Co. (15 cases);
Raymond James Financial Services/Raymond James & Associates (10 cases);
Citigroup Global …

From SecuritiesArbitrationBlawg.com:
US News & World Report published an article today written by Rob Silverblatt. The article was entitled “Could Arbitration Help You Recover Investment Losses.” The author interviewed several attorneys who practice in the area (unfortunately, the author of this blog was not one of them) and discussed patterns and trends in securities arbitration filings. The article also noted the fact that concerns related to the arbitration process have caused politicians to push the Arbitration Fairness Act (AFA) through Congress. …

From SecuritiesArbitrationBlawg.com:
Helen Kearney, of bankinvestmentconsultant.com recently reported that as of August 2009, more arbitration claims had been filed than in all of 2009. Although there was a slight downturn in the number of claims filed in August, it is unclear whether this trend will continue.
In large part, the number of claims will likely depend on what happens in the markets over the next few months. In addition, there are different types of investments that have been the subject of significant …

From the Securities Arbitration Blawg:
InvestmentNews recently pubished two articles discussing recently filed securities disputes.
First, on August 19, Jeff Benjamin and Sue Asci reported that NBA star Carmelo Anthony filed a lawsuit in federal court against California adviser Larry W. Hamilton. The claim alleges that the adviser transferred $1.75 million of Mr. Anthony’s assets and invested an additional $265,000 with other companies without consent. The complaint seeks an accounting of the adviser’s books and records, $2 million in compensatory damages, and …

From Securities Arbitration Blawg:
According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), securities arbitration claims are on the rise in 2009. In fact, according to FINRA’s June Summary Arbitration Statistics, the self-regulatory organization anticipates that 56% more cases will be filed during the year, as compared to 2008 and that during the first six months of 2009, 82% more cases had been filed as during the same period in the previous year. During this same period, FINRA reports that fewer cases …

From the Investment Fraud Blawg
I stumbled across an article written by Paul Sullivan that The New York Times published on January 26, 2009 that contained some useful information about estate planning.
Although the article is five months old, its content is no less important today than at the time the article was published. Unfortunately, too many people overlook the benefits of prudent (and often simple) estate planning. Many people feel that since issues tend to come up after they have died, …

From the Securities Arbitration Blawg
In a recent article published on Law.com, Sarah S. Gold and Richard L. Spinogatti conduct a thorough analysis of the issues in In re Merck & Co. Secs. Deriv. & ERISA Litig.., a Third Circuit Court of Appeals case. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in In re Merck to resolve when an investor is on inquiry notice of a potential fraud claim for purposes of determining when the statute of limitaions begins to run..
The authors note …

From the Investment Fraud Blawg
According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. government has determined that the Social Security system will run out of money sooner than expected.
The government’s estimate is that the Medicare fund will be exhausted in 2017 and the Social Security trust fund will be insolvent in 2037. The article quotes recently appointed HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius as stating “It’s a wake-up call for anyone concerned about Medicare and the health of our economy.” Politics aside, this …

From the Investment Fraud Blawg
The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) has announced that it has committed more than $61 million to victims of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. The SIPC has mailed letters to 125 claimants in the SIPA liquidation proceedings. In total, there have been 8,848 customer claims filed.
The SIPC has also announced that it anticipates it will have more than $100 million by Memorial Day. The news release also stated the following recent developments:

Identification and recovery to …