Small business owner awarded $651,201 for losses, $329,664 in attorneys’ fees, and $1,000,000 in punitive damages (NASD, 1997) The firm’s client was a small business owner from Louisiana who alleged that his stockbroker fraudulently induced him to invest in two private companies. After the client lost his entire investment in both companies, Brian Smiley represented […]
Lennon, et al. v. CS First Boston Corporation
Defective fairness opinion favoring merger results in $4,250,000 NYSE award for shareholders (NYSE, 1994) Partners of the firm won an award of approximately $5,000,000 for several doctors who claimed that a major investment banking firm issued a misleading “fairness opinion” in connection with the merger of two medical companies, one of whose shares the doctors […]
Prudential Limited Partnership Disputes
Successful recoveries for hundred of Prudential clients sold mismarketed limited partnerships Attorneys from the firm represented more than 700 investors pursuing limited partnership claims against Prudential and recovered in excess of $40,000,000 on behalf of those investors. Several of the more noteworthy cases were: J. Don Smith v. Prudential Securities (1993): Mike Bishop and co-counsel […]
Leveraged ETFs
These Wall Street products take a simple idea and make it way too risky for ninety-nine out of a hundred investors. The simple idea is the Exchange Traded Fund, or ETF. These are index funds. Unlike mutual funds that trade only at the end of the day, ETFs can be bought and sold throughout the […]
Principal Protected Notes
In “A Short History of Financial Euphoria” the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote, “The world of finance hails the invention of the wheel over and over again, often in a slightly more unstable version.” Witness then, yet another Wall Street innovation: the Principal Protected Note – aka, the Structured Note. Structured Notes are “IOUs” to […]
SEC Approves FINRA All-Public Panel Option
Brian Smiley quoted in On Wall Street about new FINRA arbitration rule. The move may be hailed by investor groups, but other industry experts are criticizing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent approval of a rule change that allows for the option of all-public panels in FINRA arbitrations.
Brian Smiley Appointed to SICA
Brian Smiley was appointed as one of three public members of the Securities Industry Conference on Arbitration (SICA). SICA was established in 1977 with the support of the SEC to help protect the rights of public investors in securities arbitration. SICA provides a forum at which securities arbitration forums, state regulators, the SEC, representatives of investors, and the securities […]
Auction Rate Securities
For a number of years, stockbrokers told individual and institutional clients with significant cash holdings that there was a safe way to earn a better return than money market funds, without risking a loss of principal. The place to get these returns was in Auction Rate Securities (ARS). It turns out the ARS were not […]
Common Forms of Stockbroker Misconduct
By Brian N. Smiley In recent months, the brokerage industry has been the subject of scathing headlines about fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest. The media have reported on abuses ranging from tainted research reports to outright theft by brokers. Investors have lost billions of dollars and confidence in securities markets has plummeted. Happily for […]
10 Ways to Protect Yourself Against Fraud
If you hope to prosper in today’s volatile market and lack the time or skill to choose your investments, you should find an honest, competent professional adviser, but that is easier said than done. Many brokers invest client funds with prudence and skill and put their clients’ interests first, even when inherent market risk brings […]
