US News & World Report published an article today written by Rob Silverblatt. The article was entitled “Could Arbitration Help You Recover Investment Losses.” The author interviewed several attorneys who practice in the area (unfortunately, the author of this blog was not one of them) and discussed patterns and trends in securities arbitration filings. The article also noted the fact that concerns related to the arbitration process have caused politicians to push the Arbitration Fairness Act (AFA) through Congress. The AFA would nullify mandatory arbitration provisions in contracts between investment firms (as well as other companies) and their customers.
The timing of this article is hardly coincidental. Over the past few years, consumers and investors have fallen victim to a scourge of Wall Street initiated hardship. Unlike the dotcom collapse that occurred earlier in the decade, losses have occurred across the board, including investments marketed as “conservative” or “cash equivalents.” From auction rate securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, and unprecedented losses in bond funds, investors have had few places to turn. In addition, as the stock market plunged from late 2007 to early 2009, investors who were in stocks suffered substantial losses. Those who were sold inverse and leveraged ETFs lost even more.
The Kueser Law Firm represents investors in securities arbitration. If you are concerned that your investments have been mismanaged, contact us to learn more about your rights.
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InvestmentNews recently pubished two articles discussing recently filed securities disputes.
First, on August 19, Jeff Benjamin and Sue Asci reported that NBA star Carmelo Anthony filed a lawsuit in federal court against California adviser Larry W. Hamilton. The claim alleges that the adviser transferred $1.75 million of Mr. Anthony’s assets and invested an additional $265,000 with other companies without consent. The complaint seeks an accounting of the adviser’s books and records, $2 million in compensatory damages, and punitive damages. Mr. Anthony is represented by Robert Hirsch of Beverly Hills, California.
On August 20, Sara Hansard reported that a Freeport, Bahamas couple had filed a securities arbitration claim against Merrill Lynch. According to the article, the claim alleges that Merrill Lynch invested the couple’s money in unsuitable preferred stocks issued by financial companies.
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In a recent article published on Law.com, Sarah S. Gold and Richard L. Spinogatti conduct a thorough analysis of the issues in In re Merck & Co. Secs. Deriv. & ERISA Litig.., a Third Circuit Court of Appeals case. The Supreme Court granted certiorari in In re Merck to resolve when an investor is on inquiry notice of a potential fraud claim for purposes of determining when the statute of limitaions begins to run..
The authors note that in In re Merck, the Third Circuit held that “an investor is not on inquiry notice of a potential fraud claim until the investor has knowledge of a possible fraud, including scienter.” The authors also note that the Ninth Circuit recently came to a similar conclusion in Betz v. Trainer Wortham & Co., for which a certiorari petition is currently pending.
The article is a good read for anyone interested in securities fraud litigation.
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