The earthquake and tsunami in Japan are a horrifying human tragedy, and our hearts must go out to the thousands of victims and their families. It would be wrong to equate financial loss with loss of actual lives. Yet, the natural disaster and its subsequent impact on the Japanese stock market highlights the investment risk […]
Citigroup/Smith Barney MAT/ASTA Funds
Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP is investigating the Citigroup/Smith Barney MAT/ASTA Hedge Funds. The Funds were allegedly marketed as conservative, suitable investments. Unfortunately, the Funds were heavily leveraged and exposed to higher risk than represented. The Funds were involved in a risky investment strategy known as municipal arbitrage, and many investors were unaware of the […]
MAT/ASTA Fund
In 2002, Citigroup’s Smith Barney brokerage unit started marketing six MAT/ASTA hedge funds to its clients. These Citigroup proprietary funds were trusts, which used borrowed money to buy municipal bonds, and were supposed to make profits based on the spread in interest rates between borrowed and invested funds. Total assets in these funds were approximately […]
Regions Morgan Keegan Bond Funds
Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP has represented a number of individual and institutional investors who bought shares of Morgan Keegan’s RMK High Yield Bond Funds. RMK Funds were marketed as low risk investments, despite a high concentration in subprime mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. A particular problem was that the funds invested in low […]
East Tennessee Neurology P.C. Profit Sharing Plan v. Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc.
Profit sharing plan recovery for losses on RMK Bond Funds (FINRA, 2010) Brian Smiley and Mike Bishop, along with co-counsel, represented the pension plan for a medical practice. The plan’s losses arose from investments solicited in three Regions Morgan Keegan Bond Funds (RMK High Income, RMK Strategic Income, and RMK Multi-Sector Funds). These funds took incredible […]
Perkins and Powell v. Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc.
Recovery for losses in RMK Bond Fund (FINRA, 2009) Brian Smiley, Mike Bishop, and our co-counsel obtained an award of full compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees, plus costs for two clients. The claim related to Regions Morgan Keegan’s Select Intermediate Bond Fund. In defending the case, Morgan Keegan used two expert witnesses, including a former chair of […]
Soden v. Scottrade, Inc. v. Soden
Successful defense of third-party claim brought by brokerage firm (FINRA, 2008) This was an unusual case in which we represented a widow who was sued by a brokerage firm on a third party claim for indemnification. After a hotly contested hearing that spilled over into court proceedings, the arbitrators entered an award in favor of […]
Gresham v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, et. al.
Retiree awarded losses plus $284,908 attorneys’ fees, costs and $400,000 in punitive damages (NYSE, 2003) Brian Smiley was one of the counsel for a former Proctor & Gamble factory worker who contended that he had been defrauded by employees of the A.G. Edwards’ brokerage firm. A panel of NYSE appointed arbitrators awarded Mr. Gresham actual […]
Sims v. Washington Square Securities, et al.
Retiree who bought variable annuity in IRA granted recovery of losses, attorneys’ fees and costs (NASD, 2003) BellSouth retiree Gwen Sims was convinced by a financial planner, who conducted a retirement planning class she attended at a local university, to invest her pension assets in a variable annuity. Brian Smiley convinced a panel of NASD arbitrators […]
Larry Roberts v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. and Brian Smith
Former NFL star awarded over $342,000 for investment scam (NASD, 1998) Brian Smiley and Mike Bishop represented Larry Roberts, a retired defensive end from the San Francisco 49ers. Mr. Roberts contended that his broker at Dean Witter misled him into investing $140,000 in a company which allegedly developed, renovated, and sold homes through a HUD […]
