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.

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.

Auction-rate Securities Buy Backs Don’t Help Everyone

Despite the agreement of large investment banks to repurchase billions in failed auction-rate securities, these buy backs have done little to help certain investors.  Thanks to pressure applied by state and federal securities regulators, many investment banks have announced that they will buy back the auction-rate securities that they falsely represented as safe investments.

The list of investment banks that have agreed to repurchase failed auction-rate securities includes: Wachovia Corp., JP Moran Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup, among others.

While these agreements will help thousands of investors, the buy back does not apply to $160 billion bought through mutual fund firms or brokers that didn’t underwrite the debt.

If you are feeling the financial hardships of failed auction-rate securities, contact the auction-rate securities lawyers of Williams Kherkher today by calling 800-220-9341.

Auction Rate Securities Investigations: Bank of America Subpoenaed

Bank of America Corporation has recently received subpoenas from state and federal government agencies, as well as requests for information on auction-rate securities. In February 2008, the auctions that were meant to set the rates of these securities began to fail, causing investors to panic and the government agencies to become suspicious of brokers’ role in the matter.

Bank of America also faces various class-action lawsuits that accuse the bank of misrepresenting auction-rate securities to investors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has requested documents and information dating from 1992 to 2008. Bank of America also faces the investigation of its new subsidiary, Countrywide Financial Corp.

If you have suffered financial losses due to dishonest brokers or banks, contact the auction rate securities lawyers of Williams Kherkher at 800.220.9341.

Citigroup Agrees to Buy Back Auction Rate Securities, Pay Fine

Without admitting to or denying allegations of auction rate securities (ARS) fraud, Citigroup Inc., the nation’s largest bank by assets, agreed to buy back $7.5 billion worth of its customers’ ARS holdings. The bank also agreed to start “restoring liquidity” to another $12 billion worth of ARS and pay regulators a $100 million fine.

The agreement was reached between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and regulators from several states, including Texas.

Citigroup is the first to reach such a settlement in the ongoing auction rate securities debacle. The $19.5 billion in ARS that it promised to address accounts for only 9% of the $200 billion worth of ARS that are still frozen.

For more information, contact an auction rate securities attorney today at 800-220-9341.