Articles Tagged with Citigroup

The securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints against stockbroker Michael Margiotta.  Mr. Margiotta has been employed and registered since June 2015 with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., a broker-dealer, according to his publicly available BrokerCheck, as maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Per his BrokerCheck report, prior to his employment Merrill Lynch, Mr. Margiotta was employed by UBS Financial Services Inc. from October 2008 to June 2015, and with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. from December 2003 to November 2008, as well as other prior firms.

Mr. Margiotta’s BrokerCheck report indicates that he has received two customer complaints.  The first complaint received by Mr. Margiotta involved allegations that he purchased securities that were unsuitable for the investor and sought damages of $1 million, according to the BrokerCheck report.  That complaint resulted in a settlement to the investor of $355,000 to the investor the BrokerCheck report details.  The second complaint received by Mr. Margiotta alleged unsuitability and that the broker informed the client “oil had bottomed out for sure prompting [the investor] to purchase securities which plummeted,” according to BrokerCheck records.

Malecki Law’s team of investment attorneys are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints regarding National Securities Corporation broker Christopher Jones. Mr. Jones was previously licensed through Citigroup and other firms, per industry records.

According to his BrokerCheck report maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), Mr. Jones was recently the subject of two customer disputes.

Mr. Jones’ FINRA records indicate that in 20110, a client alleged “suitability, material misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, omissions, and negligence.” This case was reportedly settled for $24,500.

The investment fraud attorneys at Malecki Law announce the firm’s investigation into potential securities law claims against broker-dealers relating to the improper sale of natural gas and oil linked structured notes and similar products to investors.

Malecki Law is interested in hearing from investors who purchased structured notes issued by well-known financial institutions, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), UBS (NYSE: UBS), and Barclays (NYSE: BCS).

These investment products, often bearing such names as “Phoenix,” “Plus,” “Enhanced Return,” “Principal Protected,” “Bullish,” “Leveraged Upside” or “Accelerated Return,” were reportedly marketed to investors as a way to make significant returns and income from the rising price of oil.  In addition to promises of increased gains, investments like these are frequently also sold to investors with assurances that their potential losses would be limited and their initial investment would be protected.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced this week that two Citigroup Affiliates, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI) and Citigroup Alternative Investments LLC (CAI), agreed to pay $180 million to settle charges of defrauding investors with false and misleading claims. According to allegations, these Citigroup affiliates had claimed that their hedge funds, Falcon fund and ASTA/MAT,  were low-risk products safe for traditional bond investors, however, these funds collapsed during the financial crisis.

According to SEC’s investigations, the above mentioned Citigroup affiliates raised almost $3 billion from 4,000 investors by making false and misleading representations for their hedge funds. They are reported as having continued to claim that these funds were low-risk and made false assurances about liquidity even as the funds started collapsing. The investigation also revealed that CAI raised $110 million in additional investments even when the fund was in dire situation and Citigroup employees presented the funds to investors in a manner that was at odds with the fine print in the written and marketing materials provided to investors. The Citigroup affiliates consented to settle without admitting or denying the findings that they willfully violated Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933, GCMI willfully violated Section 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and CAI willfully violated Section 206(4) of the Advisers Act and Rules 206(4)-7 and 206(4)-8. The firms have also consented to censure and will cease and desist from future violations.

Malecki Law takes a proactive and informed approach to national and international financial news of today. This represents a classic case of Securities Fraud where investors are misled into investing in unsuitable products. SEC holds investment firms and brokers accountable for looking out for investors’ best interests and the team at Malecki Law represents and guides investors who have been victimized by false claims, false assurances and misrepresentations. For a comprehensive list of kinds of Securities Fraud please click here and contact us if you feel you have suffered similar losses.

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