The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) will launch a two-year pilot program later this fall that will allow some investors making arbitration claims to choose a panel made up of three public arbitrators instead of two public arbitrators and one non-public arbitrator, as is currently the norm. Six firms – Merrill Lynch, Citigroup Global Markets, […]
Evergreen Investments, the mutual-fund operation, will soon get new leadership. The money-management unit of banking giant Wachovia Corp. told employees on Tuesday that Chief Executive Dennis Ferro, 63 years old, will retire at the end of this year, five years after assuming the top job. He will be succeeded by Peter Cieszko, 48, currently head […]
They’re baaaaack. Those toxic and worthless colllateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that helped drive banks $400 billion into the red are finding new buyers under a different name: Re-Remics. Due to the global credit crunch, CDOs sales fell from $227 billion in 2007 to $1 billion this year so Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and at least […]
Yesterday, the California Attorney General’s office raided Redding-based Asset Real Estate & Investment Co. (AREI) as part of their ongoing investigation of the firm. AREI is accused of defrauding investors and is the center of a flurry of investor lawsuits. Jim Koenig, who founded AREI in the late 1990s, is seeking bankruptcy protection and closing […]
Analysts are forecasting that Citigroup losses will show even more write downs on subprime-related investments in the second quarter, reducing the value of its assets by $8.9 billion. The news has not been good for the nation’s largest bank and indicates more Citigroup trouble. This is the third consecutive quarter showing Citigroup losses, and sent […]