The Law of the Financial Markets from Top Securities Lawyers
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and its parent company BAC North America Holding Co. (BACNAH) for failing to file hundreds of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) from 2009 to late 2019. Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a $6 million penalty […]
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated has settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for charging more than $4 million in undisclosed foreign exchange fees to its advisory clients for transfers to or from their accounts. The company has agreed to pay disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and a civil […]
Merrill Lynch Penalized $11.6 Million For Improper UIT Rollovers: The transactions forced clients to pay millions of dollars in needless fees, according to FINRA. A UIT is an investment company that offers investors shares, or “units,” in a fixed portfolio of securities in a one-time public offering that terminates […]
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith with misleading customers about how it handled their orders. Merrill Lynch agreed to settle the charges, admit wrongdoing, and pay a $42 million penalty. According to the SEC’s order, Merrill Lynch falsely informed customers that it had executed […]
Our attorneys represent investors and brokers who are involved with Merrill Lynch, and have been doing so for decades. Merrill Lynch was founded in 1914, and was one of the nation’s oldest brokerage firms. However, because of a variety of factors, during the market collapse in 2008, it found itself […]
Supreme Court and Arbitration – 2002 SUPREME COURT & ARBITRATION: The U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in the Circuit City v. Adams case on Monday, concerning Section 1’s “contract of employment” exclusion. The Ninth Circuit gave a broad reading to the exclusionary provision in the decision below, holding that […]
Who Owns the client…the brokerage firm or the broker? October 11, 2001 Merrill Lynch retail chief James Gorman says the numbers answer that question quite clearly. “The experience is that when brokers leave they take 65% of their book,” Gorman told RR at a gathering of reporters in the firm’s […]
“These cases reflect a sad chapter in the history of American business — a chapter in which those who reaped enormous benefits from the trust of investors profoundly betrayed that trust. These cases also represent an important new chapter in our ongoing efforts to restore investors’ faith in the fairness […]
Is Merrill Lynch Gearing Up to Blame Its Own Brokers for Investor Losses from Analyst Recommendations? By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. In a related column, I addressed the impact that the May 21, 2002 settlement by Merrill Lynch with the New York State Attorney General might have on customer […]
Analysts, Margin, Chat Rooms Come into Focus, But is the Focus Correct? By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. While many analysts and brokers ponder how much higher the market can go, and some industry professionals continue to call for the bursting of the bubble, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt […]
