Securities Archive

AG Edwards Settlement has Plaintiffs Ticked Off

March 29th, 2010. By AbiK

And I have to say, I’d be ticked too.

Plaintiffs got a little gift in their mailboxes last week: they received notice of the proposed settlement from the AG Edwards class action. Guess how much some plaintiffs are receiving? The initial report of the proposed settlement put the average payout at $20-25 customer. One commenter at LawyersAndSettlements.com quotes his notice as saying he’ll receive $20.42. You can read the notice yourself at agedwardsclassactionsettlement.com. (Note the name change of the website—prior to the proposed settlement, the site was agedwardsclassaction.com; the URL has been updated to reflect that the case now has a propsed settlement.)

Keep in mind, if you’ve read the comments that came flowing in from our post on where the AG Edwards class action suit was heading, many of the Class Members claim they lost their “life savings” compliments of AG Edwards. And remember, this was back during a class period of 2000 – 2005—not post-2008 when we all saw our savings take a dive.

The AG Edwards class action had been brought against the brokerage firm in 2005 claiming that AG Edwards breached its fiduciary duties to the Plaintiffs (folks who owned AG Edwards accounts) and that AG Edwards was “unjustly enriched by receiving millions of dollars in improper payments from mutual fund companies whose funds were held by Plaintiffs“. The Class Period had covered five years—and getting to a proposed settlement then took five years.

That’s a long time to wait for some resolution and ideally, restitution.

Another aspect of the proposed settlement is what the lawyers’ take will be. Apparently it’s $21 million—plus $600,000 in expenses. That’s 35% of the total proposed settlement of $60 million—and Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: AG Edwards, AG Edwards Settlement, Class Action, Mutual Funds, Wells Fargo
Posted in Class Action, Emerging Issues, Financial, Securities, Settlement | 48 Comments »

Seagram’s Sisters Lawsuit Makes Start-up Funding Look Easy

March 26th, 2010. By AbiK

pssst…looking for some start-up funding? I may have your angel. The Seagram’s sisters—aka, Clare and Sara Bronfman. Yes, the daughters of mega mogul Edgar Bronfman, Sr. They’ve already plowed millions (we’re talking close to $100M) into an investment scheme of self-made self-help wannabe whiz, Keith Raniere—and lost them. Where was that psychic they were talking to? So maybe they’ll be looking for a new opp—esp. now that word on the street is that daddy Bronfman is a bit pissed.

Clare and Sara apparently got a bit “taken in” by Raniere and his NXIVM group-awareness seminar company. So much so that their daddy refers to it as a “cult”. Here’s what Clare Bronfman has to say about Raniere on her—rather low-budget-looking considering she could afford a web guy—website:

Keith Raniere – Keith is my teacher and my best friend. My life is so profoundly different from when I first met him words can’t describe my gratitude. The depth of his caring for the individual people, with whom he works, as well as humanity collectively, is remarkable to me. His dedication to helping people experience more joy in their lives through self discovery and understanding has been an incredible gift to so many of us. Through his ongoing commitment to live an ethical existence, dedicated to doing what is right for all of humanity, he continues to inspire me.

So what’s NXIVM? —if helps if you can first pronounce it, which the NY Post kindly shares as NEX-EEUM. NXIVM was founded by Nancy Salzman who seems to have a hefty CV though you’d be hard-pressed to actually find her credentials—i.e., the ones that include abbreviations like “B.A.”, “M.S.”, “PhD”, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Bronfman, Edgar Bronfman Sr, Keith Raniere, Nancy Salzman, NXIVM, Seagram's
Posted in Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues, Financial, lawsuits, Securities, Totally Tortelicious | 6 Comments »

10 Clues you’re with the wrong Investment Broker

March 10th, 2010. By AbiK

Nowadays, just about everybody’s been wondering if their money’s in the right place. But economic woes aside, these ten clues ought to give you that something’s-not-right feeling in your gut when it comes to your investment broker’s handling of your account—and possibly grounds for a securities fraud case…

1. There’s inconsistency between your broker’s verbal statements and the performance of your investments.

2. There are misrepresentations by your broker, or important information about an investment which the broker did not disclose—particularly regarding the investment’s level of risk.

3. If you notice frequent and excessive trading in the account, including “in and out” trading.

4. You notice trading in high risk, speculative or unsuitable investments.

5. Your broker is managing your account by trading in securities and strategies that you don’t understand.

6. Your broker is making trades that you did not previously authorize.

7. There is trading in low-value securities or obscure companies on foreign exchanges, or private investments.

8. Your broker—or his supervisor—fail to respond to your complaints.

9. Your broker makes repeated promises to make up for losses through various devices.

10. There is a loss of funds or value in the account that you do not understand, and your broker cannot reasonably explain.

Tags: Investment Broker, Securities Fraud, Stewart Law Group
Posted in Financial, Securities | 1 Comment »