- FraudTwo former Kmart executives were indicted yesterday on three charges of securities fraud. This will open the floodgates for testimony from other employees about what was really going on at the bankrupt retailer, according to securities attorney Debra Speyer.
- Wrongful TerminationMany advisors feel that arbitration is tipped in favor of the brokerage firms, but Garcia's victory suggests that brokers who have been wronged can fight back — and win. Panels are awarding punitive damages when a broker's career has been jeopardized. “It's becoming less unusual,” says Dave Robbins, an arbitration attorney and partner at Kaufmann Feiner Yamin Gildin & Robbins. “To have his life destroyed by this indifference to the consequences will give rise to punitive damage awards,” Robbins says. Brokerages have absolute immunity when submitting a broker's U5. It is currently tied up in the courts as to the extent of a firm's immunity (qualified or absolute) when there is wrongful termination.
- Power of AttorneyThe case of Petko's ailing mother is typical. He had power of attorney to manage her money, and says he told the broker he had never invested before. He claims his broker painted a rosy picture with charts showing how money invested back in the 1920s would be worth millions today. The four funds the broker recommended had more than 30 percent of their assets in high-tech companies at the time, according to an analysis by Morningstar, the Chicago-based investment-research firm, which said the funds were down an average of 31 percent in the first four months that Petko's mother held them. He got more heartsick with every monthly statement. "To my horror it was lower and lower and lower," but he says the broker encouraged him to hang on. The brokerage firm, Conseco Inc., disputes his version, saying that Petko signed a document when he opened the account agreeing to take higher risks for higher returns. It claimed in a letter to Petko that he was adequately warned of risks before he agreed to the investments. "He's trying to make this like a shirt he wants to return because it didn't fit," said Patricia Milner, the firm's spokesperson.