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HomeCalling All Auction-Rate Securities Holders
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 10th, 2010 6:42 AM |
Without information there can be no real truth. Without truth there can be no real justice. Without justice, what is the quality of our nation and ultimately our civilization?
Why do so many Americans remain enraged at the economic travesty of the last few years? For the very simple reason that those regulators who were charged to protect American investors not only failed in their initial charge but to a large extent have continued to fail investors by not aggressively pursuing justice where financial improprieties–if not outright fraud–transpired.
To this end, why am I not surprised that many auction-rate securities holders have quickly directed their attention and focus to the state of Colorado where securities commissioner Fred Joseph has filed a complaint against E*Trade for improperly marketing and distributing auction-rate securities. Other ARS holders are hoping Commissioner Joseph will take a similar tact on their behalf against other firms for the same reason.
In order for the Colorado state securities commissioner to pursue the truth, he needs the information. (more…)
ARS Fight Continues: Another Round with Oppenheimer
Posted by Larry Doyle on June 18th, 2010 11:06 AM |
The fight for justice for auction-rate securities investors has many rounds yet to go. I remain determined to fight, cover this story, and highlight the ongoing fraud and injustice perpetrated on ARS investors everywhere until the last punch has been thrown. On that note, let’s get ready to rumble!
I received a recent message from an individual in Florida. The fact that the financial fraud in this specific case and the ARS market in totality remain largely unknown to the American public is an indictment of Wall Street, the financial industry at large, our financial regulators, the broad financial media, Congress, and ultimately our nation. Let’s strap it back on, and go after those individuals and institutions in our country who have failed to protect our brothers and sisters who were defrauded in the distribution of ARS. (more…)
Has Oppenheimer Already Violated Its Auction-Rate Settlement with NY AG Cuomo?
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 29th, 2010 1:08 PM |
Is the great lie and fraud encompassing the auction-rate securities fiasco continuing even into the settlement process? Information, or the lack thereof, indicates it is. In the process, the injustice served cold to the thousands of ARS investors, especially those who purchased these so-called ‘cash’ instruments from Oppenheimer Holdings, continues.
Wall Street, Washington, and the bulk of the financial media (exceptions being author Phil Trupp, Bloomberg’s Susan Antilla, and the Washington Examiner’s Marta Mossburg) would prefer to keep the ARS fraud and fiasco neatly under the rug. I have no interest in allowing the fraudulent ARS perpetrators and their financial regulators any degree of comfort in this mess. (more…)
Wall Street Journal Book Review Unfairly Slams Harry Markopolos
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 9th, 2010 12:04 PM |
People in glass houses should not throw stones.
That simple piece of wisdom is both timeless and precious. Regrettably, too many in our media fail to uphold it. Where do I see evidence of it today?
The Wall Street Journal today runs a book review of Harry Markopolos’ recently released No One Would Listen. The reviewer is Richard J. Tofel of ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative-journalism newsroom. Tofel does not denigrate Harry’s work, but he emasculates Harry from a personal standpoint. (more…)
Another Oppenheimer ARS Investor Unloads on New York AG Cuomo
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 8th, 2010 8:12 AM |
Investors defrauded in the distribution of auction-rate securities deserve a voice. Sense on Cents is happy to provide it. Aside from feeling screwed by Wall Street banks and money managers in the distribution of auction-rate securities as a cash surrogate, investors now feel increasingly incensed by the lack of support in the judicial system and in selected attorneys general offices in our country.
The latest AG to feel the wrath of ARS investors is New York AG Andrew Cuomo for his recent settlement with Oppenheimer Holdings. Rather than reading my opinion of Cuomo’s settlement, let’s listen to an investor (who remains nameless for obvious reasons). In my opinion, this individual’s letter speaks volumes and echoes the sentiments of thousands of investors who continue to hold the $150 BILLION in frozen ARS. (more…)
Oppenheimer ARS Investor Rails on NY AG Cuomo re: OPCO-ARS Settlement
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 3rd, 2010 5:15 PM |
How often do politicians declare victory while innocent victims remain baffled, bewildered, and befuddled as they hang onto the pangs of defeat? How often do politicians look to score political points while not delivering real progress let alone justice for those victimized by fraud? Regrettably, this dynamic plays out all too often.
I witness it in a letter sent today by an innocent investor victimized by the fraudulent distribution of auction-rate securities by Oppenheimer Holdings. This investor who remains nameless for obvious reasons shares his pain and anguish in a letter sent to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office.
Feel his pain and know that Cuomo’s settlement and victory lap are not even a drop in the bucket of the remaining $150 billion frozen ARS market. Two years have passed since the ARS market froze. For many investors, their lives and well beings froze right along with it.
Who within our political circles, our financial regulatory framework, our media are truly willing to stand up for all these victims? (more…)
Is FINRA’s Future in Doubt?
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 23rd, 2010 2:04 PM |
Are the days of Wall Street’s self-regulatory organization known as FINRA numbered?
In the opinion of the very credible Project on Government Oversight, they should be. Why? Significant failures, massive conflicts of interest, and more. POGO’s comprehensive and scathing letter to four separate House and Senate committees touches upon every failing within FINRA, with the exception of the integrity of the proxy statement used in the formation of the organization itself. Strong allegations in a current lawsuit against FINRA make the case that Mary Schapiro lied verbally during roadshows and in the proxy statement. (For details on this lawsuit read here.)
Despite not addressing the issues embedded in that lawsuit, POGO touches all the other bases and covers all the other issues surrounding this organization. (more…)
Auction Rate Security Anxiety Continues
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 29th, 2009 10:03 AM |
Still they wait.
$150 billion dollars.
Thousands of investors unable to access THEIR funds frozen in Wall Street’s greatest fraud, that is the world of auction-rate securities.
While an initial court ruling against Union Bank of Switzerland defined the sales and distribution of auction-rate securities as a fraud, recent court rulings have shifted the burden of responsibility onto investors.
When I worked on Wall Street, I was never involved directly or indirectly with the sales or trading of auction-rate securities. That said, I understand full well the explicit and implicit guarantees that brokers and salespeople made in distributing this product. The fact that those entities which distributed ARS have not been held to full and total account is an unspeakable travesty. The lives of investors who have been dramatically impacted get little to no attention from the media. Shame on them.
Our federal financial regulators housed within the SEC are nowhere to be found. FINRA remains in bed with the industry and would just as soon not draw attention to its own liquidation of $647 million ARS in mid-2007 as the market was failing.
Days, weeks, months, and now years pass. Where is the justice and retribution for those ARS investors still frozen and unable to access that $150 BILLION!!! (more…)
“Before Any Fraud Ensued”
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 31st, 2009 1:31 PM |
There seems to be a growing stream of information and activity surrounding the travesty with Auction Rate Preferred Securities, otherwise known as ARPS. Citigroup and Wachovia just settled a $4.7 billion claim brought by California investors. Oppenheimer Holdings, based in Toronto, is considering incorporating itself in the United States in an attempt to receive government funds via the TARP (Troubled Asset Recovery Program) to settle outstanding claims by ARPS investors.
This morning, Bloomberg reports UBS Auction-Rate Securities Suit Dismissed by Judge. What is this? No fraud was perpetrated? Did the investors not properly make their claim? Was UBS not liable in the underwriting and selling of ARPS? Is Sense on Cents making no sense with all the writing on this topic? Let’s review what the judge in this case has to say: (more…)
