Reasons for the Act Inspired by the financial meltdown of 2007-2010 Home market collapsed: total home equity in US dropped from $13 trillion in 2006 to $8.8 trillion by mid-2008, foreclosures Over 100 mortgage lenders went bankrupt in 2007-08 Money market funds experience mass withdrawals ($144.5 billion in a week, compared to $7.1 prior week) […]
Reverse Convertible Notes Sold By Brokers Under Regulatory Investigation
According to Bloomberg, the SEC is investigating to see if investors were defrauded into buying complex bonds known as reverse convertible notes. Reverse convertibles are securities that promise to pay investors a comparatively high fixed rate of interest and repay the investor’s principal , unless a stock to which the product is linked falls below […]
Lehman Brothers Principal Protected Notes
Anyone who was sold one of these notes learned the hard way: in broker-speak the terms “principal protected” and even “100% principal protected” does not really mean your principal is protected. After Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, holders of the notes learned that they are just unsecured creditors of the insolvent […]
True Crime Saga “Inside Job”-The Real Cause of the Economic Collapse of 2008
The economic collapse of 2008 was no accident. It was an “Inside Job,” according to filmmaker Charles Ferguson. His award winning documentary is essential viewing for anyone who wants to look behind the curtain at the forces that caused the real estate/subprime bubble that brought many of the world’s biggest economies to their knees. There are plenty […]
Auction Rate Securities
Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP has represented clients with significant losses resulting from investments in Auction Rate Securities (ARS). These securities were sold by virtually every major Wall Street firm and were marketed as a highly liquid, safe investment equivalent to CDs or money markets, but with a higher interest rate. In reality, the auction market was […]
