UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico and two of its executives have agreed to settle charges of fraudulent conduct related to mutual funds by paying $26.6 million, to be placed into an account for harmed investors.

The fraud consisted of misleading statements made to investors, concealment of a liquidity crisis, and the obscuring of UBS Puerto Rico's control of the secondary market for 23 of its non-exchange-traded, closed-end mutual funds (CEFs). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought the charges through an Read Full Article

Investment adviser Brenda A. Eschbach has consented to an entry of judgment against her for misappropriating over $3 million in client funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Feb. 15.

According to the complaint filed by the SEC in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Feb. 14, Eschbach stole funds clients had given her to make investments. Her fraudulent scheme ran from 20...

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Stock market volatility and low interest rates these days have caused more than a few investors to contemplate alternative investments, and one possibility is the Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

Concern over the clarity of these investments has led the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to issue alerts recently explaining the ins-and-outs of REITS, especially those REITS that are not publicly tra...

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Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., successor by merger to Wachovia Bank N.A., has agreed to pay $46 million to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission that Wachovia fraudulently rigged bids in municipal bond reinvestment transactions in 25 states and Puerto Rico.

The payment consists of a $25 million penalty and disgorgement of almost $14 million, plus prejudgment interest of about $7.3 million.

Wachovia merged with Wells Fargo in March 2010. As successor to Wachovia, Wells Fargo also signed agreements with the Justice ...

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A National Examination Risk Alert was issued on Nov. 30 to inform broker-dealers how to develop effective policies and procedures for branch office inspections as a way to combat broker fraud, unsuitable investments and failures to supervise.

The alert was jointly issued by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, or OCIE. The alert reminded firms of sup...

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