Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. will pay Florida $8.5 million to settle claims that the brokerage firm's financial advisers misled their clients about auction-rate securities, according to a <a href=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-biz-merrill.settles-090109,0,4894709.story>report</a> in the Orlando Sentinel.
Kansas has received a total of $5 million from multistate settlements with four investment companies.
The Charles Schwab Corp. today said it will not meet New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's demand that it repurchase auction rate securities from clients that purchased them from the discount-brokerage firm, even though its exposure to a buyback is relatively limited.
State and federal prosecutors have charged seven people in an alleged securities scam that cheated dozens of people out of $17 million.
The Obama administration has formed a new task force to target financial fraud — replacing an earlier corporate fraud task force.
UBS AG's wealth management business in the Americas returned to profitability in the third quarter, despite losing financial advisers and client assets.
The volume of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the eighth straight month in September as buyers scrambled to take advantage of a tax credit for first-time owners that expires at the end of this month.
U.S. home prices rose for the third straight month in August, data Tuesday showed, a key sign for a broad and sustained housing recovery.
Although Aviva USA Corp. already has an established strength in its lineup of indexed products, the insurer has its eye on the next innovation: a guarantee wrapper with a managed account or 401(k), according to chief executive Christopher J. Littlefield.
