By: Matthew Arndt, CFA, CPA, CFP | August 26, 2009 | Investor Information, Wall Street Ethics
A floundering taxpayer supported Citigroup is under contractual pressure to pay energy trader Andrew Hall a $100 million bonus. The real question is does Hall deserve the bonus? Is such a huge bonus fair to shareholders and taxpayers who are supporting Citigroup? And will shareholders suffer if Andrew Hall decides to leave and go elsewhere? [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | August 24, 2009 | The Politicians, Wall Street Ethics
The American way of life is being undermined by greedy corporate executives who work closely with corrupt politicians. If it doesn’t stop the future prosperity of this country is at risk.
Wall Street executives are the personification of greed that permeates corporate America. They manage companies to produce short-term profits that produce hundreds of millions of [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | August 24, 2009 | Illegal Schemes & Scams, Ponzi Schemes
Gary Hutcheson pleaded guilty to operating a Ponzi scheme in Macon, Georgia. He and an accomplice defrauded 50 investors, including prominent doctors, attorneys and church members, of millions of dollars when he told them their assets would be invested in a hedge fund named Georgia Ionics Fund, LLC.
Some of the investors knew Hutcheson 30 years [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | August 21, 2009 | Illegal Schemes & Scams
Colin Nathanson, an Orange County, California resident was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for swindling 2,500 investors out of $28,000,000 and perhaps as much as $55,000,000.
He told investors their assets would be deposited in an Investment Trust he controlled and the money would be used to purchase an equity interest in a private Internet-based technology [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | August 18, 2009 | Bad Products & Services
Hundreds of arbitration claims and class action lawsuits have been filed against Charles Schwab based on investor losses in two ultra-short bond funds: Schwab YieldPlus Fund (SWYPX) and Schwab YieldPlus Select Fund (SWYSX). These funds were marketed, beginning in November, 2004, as safe alternatives to money market funds. They were supposed to preserve capital while [...]
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By: Jack Waymire | August 10, 2009 | Deceptive Sales Practices
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced it was fining Ameritas Investment Corporation $100,000 for failing to adequately supervise one of its brokers. The New Jersey based broker, Nancy Ziering, was fined $60,000 and suspended for nine months for convincing 220 investors to borrow against the equity of their homes to buy Variable Universal Life (VUL) insurance policies.
Ziering used questionable financial plans [...]
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