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.

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.

Commerce Buys Back $545 Million Auction-rate Securities

Commerce Bancshares Inc. recently announced that it will offer to buy back around $545 million in auction-rate securities from close to 140 investors. Commerce noted that they have agreed to repurchase the auction-rate securities because of the failure of the market that caused ARS to become illiquid.

Commerce joins several other banking institutions that have recently agreed to repurchase ARS investments. Wachovia Corporation released a statement on the same day that stated that they would pay a $50 million fine and $9 billion in ARS back to investors.

As investigations continue, it is likely that more and more large banking institutions will come forward and agree to repurchase failed auction-rate securities.

If you have faced financial hardships due to the failure of your auction-rate securities investment, contact the auction-rate securities fraud lawyer from Williams Kherkher today. Call 800-220-9341 for more information.

Morgan Stanley To Repurchase ARS

Morgan Stanley, along with USB and Citigroup, has announced that they will be repurchasing auction-rate securities that were purchased before February 13th, 2008. Last week, USB and Citigroup agreed to return over $20 billion to investors.

After the $330 billion collapse that the market faced in February, the New York Attorney General has been looking into the cause of such a financially catastrophic event.

Although Morgan Stanley is attempting to make amends with  angry investors, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is not impressed. “This is too little, too late, and our investigation into Morgan Stanley continues,” noted Alex Detrick. Cuomo’s spokesman.

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