Investment Litigation Blog

SEC official Norm Champ has told a conference at the Insured Retirement Institute that the agency has been tracking the increased complexity of variable annuity contracts. The more complex they become, the harder it is for the financial industry to properly describe their risks, which is now a regulatory concern. Some VAs are now tied…

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have published a free 53-page educational guide for seniors and their caregivers: Money Smart for Older Adults. The guide discusses an array of financial exploitation of seniors, from telephone scams to Ponzi schemes, and provides a glossary and contact information for further guidance. Basic…

As a broad category, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) may be losing attractiveness as an investment, according to market analysts who suggest they’ve been “fully valued at least” and “in the late innings”. REITs tend to be sensitive to interest rates, are less appealing than the available alternatives in an improving market, and are pressured…

June 15, 2013 is the annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, as designated by the United Nations. “The day aims to focus global attention on the problem of physical, emotional, and financial abuse of elders. It also seeks to understand the challenges and opportunities presented by an aging population, and brings together senior citizens, and…

Yesterday, June 11, 2013, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber signed a bill that lengthens the list of people who are legally required to report elder abuse to authorities. House Bill 2205 makes dentists, optometrists, chiropractors, attorneys, and lawmakers themselves mandatory reporters of the abuse of anyone over the age of 65. The mandate includes reporting of…

What’s a Variable Annuity? Basically a variable annuity is a life insurance contract, a wager on the life expectancy of a person. That person is the “annuitant” for purposes of the contract. The person who holds the contract is “the owner.” They’re not necessarily the same person. In return for an investment of an initial…

There’s a decided increase in the number of broker complaints that are being expunged from FINRA’s BrokerCheck records. In 2009 state regulators received 110 requests to have disclosure events (which include details of customer complaints, regulatory actions, settlements, bankruptcies, liens, criminal histories, changes of employment) removed from public view. In 2012 that number rose to…

A close analysis of recent SEC documents regarding the fiduciary standard indicates that the definition of that standard may be changing. While in theory a good idea, the proposed changes may have the effect of dramatically undermining investor protections. This is worth an investor’s attention. As it stands today, brokers (who are FINRA-licensed to sell…

(June 2) Rising costs of doing business, pressure on margins, and demographic changes are likely to benefit larger Registered Investment Advisor firms in the next few years, according to industry forecasts. The 19,000 RIA firms in the United States look to be increasingly dominated by perhaps 150 of the biggest firms, each of them with…

(May 20) The U.S. Senate has opened a probe into the increasingly controversial business of buying up and re-packaging the income streams of pensioners. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will examine multiple aspects of the pension-buying business model. This is a follow-on to state investigations launched in the last few weeks…