The collapse of auction-rate securities

november 19

Brokerage is charged with fraud

Secretary of State William F. Galvin charged brokerage Oppenheimer & Co. yesterday with fraud and unethical conduct in the sales of auction-rate securities, which trapped $56 million of Massachusetts customers' funds this year.
September 18

Mass. AG wants help for auction-rate investors

Massachusetts' attorney general and secretary of state urged a House panel probing the collapse of the auction-rate securities market to find a way to provide timely relief for investors.
August 28

Bank of America buying back bonds

Bank of America Corp. has agreed to buy back $43 million in auction-rate securities from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, as part of its ongoing negotiations with the Massachusetts Securities Division, both agencies confirmed.
August 28

UBS bond executive exits amid turmoil

David Shulman, UBS AG's global head of municipal securities, left in the wake of settlements by the bank with state and federal regulators over the sale of auction-rate securities before the market collapse in February.
New York probes Fidelity, Goldman ties
August 27

New York probes Fidelity, Goldman ties

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office is probing the relationship between Fidelity Investments and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in connection with the broker's sales of auction-rate securities, said people familiar with the investigation.
August 22

Investor ire rises against Fidelity

Some Fidelity Investments customers who bought auction-rate securities say they didn't know such investments existed until they were told about them by a Fidelity representative.
August 21

Source: auction-rate probe focuses on 3 banks

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will intensify his probe into auction-rate securities by focusing on Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, said a person close to the investigation.
August 19

Success, and failure, in auction-rate fallout

Documents show Bank of America warned California of big problems, but let small investors fend for themselves.
august 8

UBS announces $19b settlement

The Swiss bank, settling regulators' claims it misled customers, plans to buy back about $19 billion in auction-rate securities.
august 1

State charges Merrill with investor fraud

Massachusetts regulators charged Merrill Lynch & Co. with fraud and unethical conduct in the sales of auction-rate securities, alleging that the Wall Street firm failed to warn customers about the risks in the market.
july 31

UBS agrees to pay $1m to Mass.

UBS AG agreed to pay Massachusetts $1 million to settle an investigation by Attorney General Martha Coakley into the marketing of auction-rate securities to 20 towns and public agencies in the state.
july 18

Securities investigators pay a visit at Wachovia

Regulators from Massachusetts and several other states, investigating Wachovia Securities' auction-rate securities sales practices, went to its St. Louis headquarters yesterday and requested documents.
july 16

Patriots' affiliate sues bond insurer to block fees

An affiliate of the New England Patriots football team is playing defense on a new field: the market for auction-rate securities.
july 3

Several brokers warned state of market distress

At least five major Wall Street firms warned the Commonwealth in January that a $330 billion slice of the bond market was in distress, e-mails and presentations from those firms show.
july 3

Ex-UBS broker sues alleging firm retaliated

A former UBS broker who sold $30 million in auction-rate securities to Massachusetts towns and cities has filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the Wall Street firm, alleging it retaliated against him for cooperating with regulators and forced him to resign.
june 27

State: Firm knew of market woes

Executives at the highest level of UBS Financial Services Inc. knew as early as last fall that the auction-rate securities market was failing, and urged brokers to move the investments from the firm's books into the hands of individual clients, state regulators alleged in a lawsuit filed yesterday against the brokerage.
june 26

State set to allege securities fraud

Massachusetts securities regulators today are expected to file civil fraud charges against UBS Financial Services Inc. for allegedly selling investments it claimed were as safe as cash even though the Swiss firm knew they were risky, according to a state official briefed on the case.
June 25

Stuck auction-rate debt buyers grasp for answers

For investors trapped in auction-rate securities, finding out what they actually own has been a vexing challenge.
June 17

Brokerage practices draw criticism

Wall Street firms may have led their own brokers to believe auction-rate securities were safer than they really were, by labeling them as cash investments and failing to warn brokers of their risks, according to customer records and interviews.
June 9

Wall St. firm told only some about risk

UBS Financial Services Inc. knew as early as December that a segment of the municipal bond business was in trouble, but the Wall Street firm kept selling the investments to some clients without warning them of the risk, according to documents reviewed by the Globe.
may 27

Hub fund managers unfreezing clients' cash

Investors in a growing number of closed-end mutual funds that were frozen by the credit crisis have been given the chance to reclaim their money by some fund families.
may 16

Same broker tied investors to UBS

For years, UBS broker Timothy P. Flynn has made a business of calling on small-town treasurers in western Massachusetts, where he grew up.
may 8

Wall Street firm to return $37m to Mass. communities

A major Wall Street firm agreed to return $37 million to 17 cities and towns in the state, as well as to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, after it allegedly misled them into buying investments they thought were as safe as cash.
April 22

The feds can't do it alone

Jack Allegrini had a problem, so he put in a few calls to Washington. He never heard a word back.
february 16

Changing high-rate bonds is costly

Escaping from high interest payments on variable-rate bonds may prove costly for many schools and hospitals.