Fidelity Agrees to Repurchase $300M in Auction-rate Securities

Fidelity Investments has agreed to join other brokerage firms in the buy back of millions of dollar in auction-rate securities after the crash of the market last February. As investigations have uncovered numerous cases of broker misconduct, the brokerages have been working with government agencies to repurchases the failed investments of thousands of investors.

Fidelity will buy back around $300 million in auction-rate securities, despite denying that they had much to do with the sale of these investments. Fidelity states that their actions are prompted by their long term commitment to their customers.

For more information about auction-rate securities, contact the auction-rate securities fraud lawyers of Williams Kherkher by calling 800-220-9341.

Comerica To Repurchase $1.46 Billion in Auction Rate Securities

Comerica Bank’s parenty company, Comerica Inc., has recently agreed to repurchase $1.46 billion in auction rate securities. Comerica worked with the Michigan attorney general and the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation to settle on the agreement amount some time last week.

Several calls and complaints filed by Michigan residents began the investigation. These residents claimed to have been encouraged to invest in auction rate securities and told that they were similar to CDs that could be easily exchanged for cash. When the market crashed last February, these investors were left with nothing, having never been informed of the risk involved in auction rate securities.

Comerica will also be responsible for paying the State of Michigan a civil penalty in the amount of $10,000, as well as $100,000 to the Michigan Investor Protection Trust Fund.

If you were mislead to believe that auction rate securities were a safe investment, contact the auction rate securities fraud lawyers of Williams Kherkher by calling 800.220.9341 today.

Forty Brokerages Now Involved in Auction Rate Securities Investigation

As promised, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has turned his attention on 40 brokerages that sold auction-rate securities to investors but did not underwrite the debt. Until now, these investigations have focused on the big investment banks. The investigation of smaller brokerages begins this Monday as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) gears up to complete on-site examinations at the brokerages.

FINRA will be trying to determine whether or not each brokerage was aware of the problems in the market and whether or not they attempted to warn investors of the potential risks.

These investigations have led to settlements with eight large firms. These firms have agreed to repurchase around $50 billion of the $60 billion in auction-rate securities debt.

In an interview on CNBC, Cuomo stated, “We’re starting with the largest banks, in terms of number of people involved…and we’re working our way down the list. We’re now focusing on some of the mid-size players in the market.”

For more information on auction-rate securities fraud or to schedule a consultation with a lawyer, contact the auction-rate securities lawyers of Williams Kherkher by calling 800-220-9341.

FINRA Creates New Arbitration Process

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has recently announced that they have created a new process for auction-rate securities arbitration claims. This new process gives investors the option to have their claims heard by a three person panel in which none of the arbitrators have an affiliation with a firm that recently sold auction-rate securities.

This new process has been created after the Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement with Citigroup. The new three person arbitration panel would include one non-public arbitrator and two public arbitrators. This process differs from the all-public arbitration panel that will be offered as a pilot program on October 6, 2008.

According to the FINRA, over 170 cases of auction-rate securities fraud have been filed since February. If you experienced financial damages due to the failure of your auction-rate securities investments, contact an auction-rate securities fraud lawyer right away.

Call 800-220-9341 to schedule a consultation with a skilled auction-rate securities fraud lawyer at the law offices of Williams Kherkher.

FINRA Launches Pilot Program to Evaluate Arbitration Panels

Merrill Lynch, Citigroup Global Markets, Wachovia Securities, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, and UBS have agreed to participate in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s new pilot program to evaluate the arbitration process.

This two-year pilot program will allow some investors to choose whether they would like an arbitration made up of three public arbitrators or the traditional panel of one non-public arbitrator and two public arbitrators.

According to FINRA representatives,  only the investor making the arbitration claim can decide to participate in the pilot program. The firms will not have the option to decide which cases will be included as part of the pilot program. Investors who would like to participate in the pilot program will be able to as of October 6, 2008.

For more information on the arbitration process and your legal rights, contact the auction-rate securities lawyers of Williams Kherkher by calling 800-220-9341.