Money Management Executive Latest News

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil injunctive action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against U.S. Pension Trust and U.S. College Trust, two unregistered broker/dealers, and their three principals, Iliana Maceiras, Leonardo Maceiras, Jr., and Nildo Verdeja.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined four fund companies—AllianceBernstein, Putnam Investment Management, Smith Barney Fund Management and Salomon Brothers Asset Management—$1.7 million for failing to disclose to investors in closed-end funds that distributions it paid to them between 2001 and 2004 came either entirely or partly from shareholder capital or capital gains. Alliance, Smith Barney and Salomon are each paying a fine of $450,000, and Putnam is paying $350,000. The four firms settled with the SEC without admitting or denying the charges.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled its lawsuit against Mutuals.com and two related investment advisors, Connely Dowd Management and MTT Fundcorp, along with the firms’ three principals, Richard Sapio, Eric McDonald and Michele Leftwich.

The President's Working Group on Financial Markets will form two private-sector groups to develop best practices for the hedge fund industry, and while it comes far short of requiring hedge funds to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission, this is welcome news, both for investors and the market.

William M. Lyons, the former president and chief executive officer of American Century Investments, has joined the board of directors of Morningstar and will also sit on the audit committee.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan gives the chance of recession less than 50/50—but does believe the probability of one occurring has increased, Reuters reports.

As a clear sign that Japanese investors are beginning to move their assets from savings into investments, Japanese mutual fund assets have hit a new high, the New Zealand Press reports. Assets in mutual funds in Japan soared 39% from a year ago to $673 billion. Total financial assets stood at $13.5 trillion.

A new law in Japan that took effect yesterday—the first overhaul of its financial regulation system in 20 years—is aimed at encouraging its citizens to move some $13 trillion in savings into stocks and bonds, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Alexander James Trabulse, manager of Fahey Fund, a hedge fund, with fraud, specifically overstating the fund’s profits by as much as 200% and misusing assets to purchase cars and for shopping sprees for his family.

A New York state judge will permit a former hedge fund client to bring fraud claims against law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld for having improperly advised the fund that late trading mutual funds was legal, The New York Law Journal reports. But the judge upheld the law firm’s motion to drop other claims, including negligence and breach of fiduciary duty, against it, since the firm already settled with the New York attorney general’s office.