SEC investigating bank over auction-rate securities sales
Recent Cases
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. disclosed Friday in its quarterly report that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating possible breaches of procedure by one of the bank's subsidiaries in auction-rate securities sales and purchases. Auction-rate securities are long-term bonds with varying interest rates that change based on weekly or monthly auctions. In the report, bank officials wrote:
The Company self-disclosed to the SEC that Mellon Financial Markets LLC placed orders on behalf of issuers to purchase their own Auction Rate Securities. The SEC is conducting an investigation of those transactions. MFM is cooperating fully with the SEC in its investigation.
On Thursday, the SEC agreed to a preliminary settlement with financial firm Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. over the firm's auction-rate securities practices, and Friday the agency entered into a similar settlement with the firm UBS. UBS is also facing a lawsuit filed late last month by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for allegedly misrepresenting auction-rate securities as low-risk despite the actual volatility of such investments.
Related listings
-
Former Bush Assistant Sues over 'Swing Vote'
Recent Cases 08/08/2008Bradley Blakeman, a former member of the Bush administration, claims the movie "Swing Vote" is based on a copyrighted treatment he gave to actor Kelsey Grammer, who passed it along to Disney's Touchstone Pictures without his knowledge or permission. ...
-
'Junior' Gotti Arrested on Murder Charge
Recent Cases 08/05/2008John A. "Junior" Gotti has been arrested on charges linking him to three New York murders, The New York Times reported. He is expected to be indicted on racketeering and murder-conspiracy charges over the killings, which took place nearly two decades...
-
'Trashman' Posted Alarmist Videos, Feds Say
Recent Cases 08/04/2008Anton Dunn, using the alias "Trashman," posted threatening videos on YouTube, in which he claims to have told Gerber employees to poison baby food with the intent to kill millions of black babies, federal prosecutors claim. Dunn has been charged with...
Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.