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Mutual Fund Lawyers
This website is a resource for investors
who may have been defrauded by stockbrokers,
planners, or other financial professionals.
Created by experienced securities lawyers
who have worked in the brokerage industry
and who know the rules and regulations that
govern investing and finance, this site is
your first step to understanding your rights
and legal options.
In addition to avoiding blatantly illegal
activities like selling fictional stock, stockbrokers
have a duty to understand their clients and
to act in the clients' best interests. Stockbrokers
can be found liable for damages if they over-concentrate
a client's portfolio, if they churn the account
to generate commissions, and if they fail
to disclose the risks associated with an investment.
Investor fraud and broker misconduct are
more common than many people assume, and misrepresentation,
fraud, and incompetence can be cause for legal
action.
We help individual investors navigate through
the maze of regulations and jurisdictions.
State and federal government agencies and
industry associations can help police brokers
and protect investors. Investors can also
pursue civil action to recover lost money.
Click here to learn about mutual
fund arbitration.
Mutual Fund Fraud
The headlines have been filled with the
news of scandal. Government prosecutors are
investigating mutual funds and their managers
for conflicts of interest. However, for the
most part these settlements will not
result in refunds to individual investors
who were victims of the funds' misdeeds. Individuals
must pursue recovery on their own.
One industry group is even encouraging securities
regulators to crack down on business practices
involving brokerages that can create conflicts
of interest for fund managers: the use of
so-called soft dollars and "directed brokerage"
that would change the way mutual fund companies
work with the brokerages that execute their
trades and market their funds.
Directed brokerage permits fund companies
to consider that a brokerage sells their mutual
funds when "directing" orders to a broker.
Soft dollars arrangements award money managers
credits from the commissions paid to brokerages
for trading. Managers can use these "soft"
credits in lieu of "hard" dollars to buy investment
research products and other services.
Congress urged the SEC to crack down on
soft dollars and directed commissions months
ago, and the SEC has been studying it and
plans new rules shortly.
Stock Fraud
Although securities law contains many volumes
of technical definitions and rules, stock
fraud is basically stealing. When investors
are enticed to part with their money based
on untrue statements, it's securities fraud.
Every year, thousands of hard-working Americans
see their savings stolen by unscrupulous brokers.
You might think that stock fraud belongs to
the past, but on the contrary, complaints
to the Securities and Exchange Commission
have increased in recent years.
Misrepresentations, fraud, and incompetence
by stockbrokers and financial planners, who
may be more concerned with their own pocket
books than yours, can often result in dramatic
losses of one's life savings, inheritance
or retirement plan assets. Have you been a
victim of fiduciary
misconduct by brokers? Have you lost money
as a result of your broker's fraud and/or
negligent activities? Our mutual
fund fraud lawyers can help.
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