Congressman Robert Pittenger [R-NC9] has signed up to co-sponsor H.R. 3482.
If you are a constituent of Congressman Pittenger’s district, now is the time to send your “Thank You” letter and urge him to engage his colleagues to join as [...]
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Congressman Robert Pittenger [R-NC9] has signed up to co-sponsor H.R. 3482. A bipartisan group of U.S. House and Senate members is seeking to make it easier for investment fraud victims to seek compensation, after investors in Allen Stanford’s Ponzi scheme were deemed ineligible under current law to file claims. The bill, introduced by Louisiana Republican Senator David Vitter, New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, New Jersey Republican Rep. Scott Garrett and New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, would bestow U.S. securities regulators with greater powers to oversee the process of determining whether customers of failed brokerages qualify for compensation. The legislative proposal comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission awaits a crucial decision from a U.S. appeals court over the fate of the Stanford victims. More on Reuters [...] Sen. Chuck Schumer says a bill he’s pushing could benefit victims of the disgraced Albany brokerage McGinn, Smith & Co. by granting the federal Securities and Exchange Commission greater latitude to refer the case to a fund set up to provide restitution in the wake of financial wrongdoing. The Securities Investor Protection Corp. can act as trustee or work with an independent court-appointed trustee in missing-asset cases to recover funds. It can also provide up to $500,000 in restitution for victims to cover any losses not recovered in the regular liquidation of a failed brokerage firm. The relief is paid out of a fund fed by assessments on the financial industry. More in the Times Union [...] Victims of Bernard Madoff’s infamous Ponzi scheme have a chance to make claims for a share of a $2.35 billion federal recovery fund, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Monday. The fund is open to applications from burned customers who invested with Madoff indirectly through financial feeder funds, investment groups and other pooled investment vehicles, said Bharara. The federal fund is separate from the recovery and repayment process being pursued on victims’ behalf by Irving Picard, a court-appointed trustee. Courts have ruled that indirect Madoff investors are not allowed to seek recovery from the trustee, who so far has recovered more than $9.5 billion of the estimated $20 billion investors lost in the fraud. More in USA Today [...] The largest category of victims in the vast Ponzi scheme run by Bernard L. Madoff — those who lost cash through accounts with various middleman funds — will be first in line for compensation from a $2.35 billion fund collected by the Justice Department. These so-called indirect investors represent about 70 percent of all the claims filed after Mr. Madoff’s arrest in December 2008, and about 85 percent of the claims for out-of-pocket cash losses. But because they were not formal customers of Mr. Madoff’s brokerage firm, they are not eligible to recover anything from the federal bankruptcy court, where the Madoff trustee has so far collected $9 billion to apply toward eligible claims. More in the New York Times [...] An insurance program to protect U.S. futures traders from financial losses when a brokerage collapses would come at a high cost, according to a study released on Friday, which was quickly criticized by a top U.S. regulator. Bart Chilton, a member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, cast doubt on the findings because the study was funded by futures-industry groups supported by firms that have opposed insurance programs. More on Reuters [...] Contact: Caroline Ward REP. SCOTT GARRETT (R-NJ) AND REP. CAROLYN MALONEY (D-NY) INTRODUCE SIPC LEGISLATION Washington, DC. — The Network for Investor Action and Protection (NIAP) is pleased to announce today its support of H.R. 3482, “The Restoring Main Street Investor Protection Act of 2013,” jointly introduced by Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ) and Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY). This bill was designed to enhance protections for investors who are customers of regulated broker-dealers and restore confidence in U.S. financial markets. The bill [...] Insurance against losses for U.S. futures customers may be feasible, according to a study commissioned after MF Global Holdings Ltd. and Peregrine Financial Group Inc. collapsed. The study, commissioned by CME Group Inc., the Futures Industry Association, the Institute for Financial Markets and the National Futures Association, surveyed private insurance companies to gauge their interest in providing protection to customers if their futures broker goes bankrupt, according to a statement released today. More on Bloomberg BusinessWeek [...] A Bank of New York Mellon Corp. vice president told a jury she helped boost Bernard Madoff’s credit line by $225 million in 2006, based on data provided by a former Madoff executive accused of aiding his $17 billion fraud. Daniel Bonventre, one of five ex-Madoff employees on trial in Manhattan, won an increase in the investment firm’s secured credit line to $300 million from $75 million to pay for what he said was a boost in trading activity, Monika Arora, who works in BNY Mellon’s securities industry banking division, testified today in federal court in Manhattan. More on Bloomberg [...] Nearly five years after the collapse of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is renewing a push to alter the way victims of such frauds are compensated, saying current methods are unfair and applied inconsistently. Reps. Scott Garrett (R., N.J.) and Carolyn Maloney (D., N.Y.), along with 23 co-sponsors, introduced legislation Thursday to require a brokerage insurance agency called the Securities Investor Protection Corp. to calculate victims’ claims based on account statements from failed firms. The changes, which also clarify which victims of Ponzi schemes are covered by SIPC, would likely increase the size of their claims. More in the Wall Street Journal [...] |
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