From Investment Fraud Blawg, Securities Fraud Blawg, and Stockbroker Fraud Blawg:
Yesterday, August 17, 2009, the Attorney General of the state of New York announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Charles Schwab & Co. for its sales of auction rate securities. According to the press release, the Complaint charges Schwab with violations of the Martin Act for:
falsely representing auction rate securities as liquid, short-term investments without discussing the risks. These representations gave investors a false sense of security that …

From Investment Fraud Blawg, Securities Fraud Blawg, and Stockbroker Fraud Blawg:
The September 2009 edition of The Atlantic contains a story written by William D. Cohan, which outlines the Final Days of Merrill Lynch. Mr. Cohan is also the author of House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street (available at Amazon.com).
This article is an worthwhile (and brief) read for anyone interested in the collapse of Merrill Lynch or Wall Street in general.
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From Investment Fraud Blawg, Securities Fraud Blawg, and Stockbroker Fraud Blawg:
On August 4, 2009, the Wall Street Journal reported that Fidelity Investments had joined other broker-dealers in warning its customers about the risks of investing in Leveraged ETFs (see other blawg posts on this topic here and here). The article, written by Daisy Maxey, states that Fidelity’s website warned investors that “Leveraged products are complex, carry substantial risks and are intended for short-term trading,” and that “[m]ost reset daily and …

From Investment Fraud Blawg, Securities Fraud Blawg, and Stockbroker Fraud Blawg:
Only weeks after Edward D. Jones, Ameriprise, Linsco Private Ledger (LPL) and UBS announced that they were restricting the sale of leveraged ETFs (see here), two more broker-dealers have decided to take action related to their sales of these risky, and often misunderstood investments.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney announced that it is reviewing its sales procedures related to leveraged ETFs. In addition, Charles Schwab …

From Investment Fraud Blawg, Securities Fraud Blawg, and Stockbroker Fraud Blawg:
According to an article on InvestmentNews, Massachusetts securities regulators have subpoenaed four brokerage firms for information related to their sales practices of leveraged ETFs. The subpoenas come only a few weeks after Edward D. Jones, Ameriprise, Linsco Private Ledger (LPL) and UBS restricted the sale of the products or stopped selling leveraged ETFs altogether. This also comes approximately three weeks after FINRA advised firms that leveraged ETFs “typically are unsuitable …

From Investment Fraud Blawg, Securities Fraud Blawg, and Stockbroker Fraud Blawg:
On July 30, 2009, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued a report entitled “No Rhyme or Reason: The ‘Heads I Win, Tails You Lose’ Bank Bonus Culture.”
In the report, Mr. Cuomo discusses the compensation programs instituted by banks and brokerage firms while the economy was heading for, and in the midst of, crisis. The findings are truly astonishing are summed up well as “When the banks did well, their …