By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | June 24, 2009 | The Politicians, The Regulators, Wall Street Ethics
In a story that has gone for the most part unnoticed, Citigroup and Bank of America, both of whom have received massive infusions of taxpayer money in the past year, are now scheming to get around the recent limits being placed on annual bonuses. Both are expected to raise base salaries for investment bankers and [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | June 23, 2009 | Who Can I Trust?
The SEC filed formal charges against Stanley Chais claiming he knowingly raised money for Bernie Madoff’s illegal Ponzi Scheme. Although Chais claimed to be a financial advisor, there are major differences between Money Finders and ‘real’ financial advisors.
Money Finders are usually slick marketing companies that raise assets for money management firms that may or may not [...]
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By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | June 22, 2009 | Bad Financial Advice, Who Can I Trust?
As a consequence of the recent financial turmoil, many investors have lost untold sums and are considering shifting assets away from advisers they perceive to be incompetent and negligent. Knowing this, some advisers are resorting to disgraceful scare tactics to hang onto their clients. Detailed in Brokers Using Scare Tactics To Badmouth Advisor, brokers afraid [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | June 20, 2009 | Ponzi Schemes
The State of Colorado has accused long time Denver financial advisor Mark Jackson of running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of $30 million http://www.denverpost.com/crime/ci_12549352.
Jackson’s principal claim that hooked investors is the oldest one used by operators of Ponzi schemes. He promised investors returns of 12% to 36% with little of no risk. This appealed [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | June 20, 2009 | Who Can I Trust?
There is a lot of content about Jim Putman, NAPFA’s former president, on the Internet. If you don’t know, the SEC has accused Putnam and another employee of his firm with accepting undisclosed kickbacks of $2.4 million on client investment pools and violating their fiduciary duties (http://www.denverpost.com/crime/ci_12549352).
Apparently, Putman and his firm put relatively conservative clients [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | June 19, 2009 | Investor Information, Ponzi Schemes
The Associated Press reported R. Allen Stanford was indicted and jailed today because his international banking empire was alleged to be a Ponzi scheme that was based on lies, bluster, and bribery. See: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31439494/ns/business-us_business/?GT1=43001.
Robert Khuzami, the enforcement director for the Securities and Exchange Commission, said investigators have built “an impressive criminal case from the rubble of [...]
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