GWG chiefs bolt in middle of bankruptcy

Over the past 12 months, the company's shares have fallen from a high of $10.55 to Monday's price of $1.03.

The chief executive and chief financial officer of distressed alternative asset manager and bond issuer GWG Holdings Inc. resigned Monday, and as of midday the company had provided no information about the reason for the departures.

Neither the CEO, Murray T. Holland, nor the CFO, Timothy L. Evans, have resigned from GWG Holdings’ board of directors, according to a statement from the company. GWG expects to provide information about the two leaving the company in the future, the company said.

A spokesperson for GWG didn’t return a call Monday to comment. Over the past 12 months, shares of the company have fallen from a high of $10.55 to Monday’s price of $1.03.

GWG Holdings Inc., which sold $1.6 billion in bonds backed by life settlements through a network of independent broker-dealers, said in April it had voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Since that case is ongoing, it’s incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to determine what the GWG life settlement bonds are actually worth, according to attorneys and industry executives.

Broker-dealers who sold the GWG L Bonds will likely be the target of lawsuits from investors who used retirement savings to buy the product.

In the past couple of years, GWG has repeatedly missed deadlines to file audited financial statements. In January, it failed to make $13.6 million in combined interest and principal payments for its L Bonds series, ultimately defaulting on those bonds.

[More: GWG blames SEC investigation of brokers for its collapse]