It never hurts to seek out investing advice. Even the most experienced investors get investment advice, either from a single investment adviser or a trusted group. The key term here is trusted. If you’re considering opening an investment advisory account, it’s important to choose the right one.
On Thursday, it was announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the nation’s top finance and securities regulator, had experienced a critical cyber security breach. The breach, which occurred in 2016, allowed hackers access to the SEC’s EDGAR system, a database which houses corporate filings and announcements for a multitude of Wall Street firms.
The SEC hack has shaken investors and lawmakers as it poses serious questions regarding the SEC’s security measures and protocol. It is also possible that hackers may have profited on the insider info by trading on it. According to a Reuters report, the database contained sensitive, “market-moving information”.
This week, market analysts and investors saw Wall Street regaining upward traction. Dow and S&P indexes soared to record weekly gains, buoyed by a flurry of trading activity. According to a Reuters report, financial investing has been one of the major drivers, followed by industrial and tech.
After a catastrophic storm, the first thing you’ll probably do after making sure your loved ones are safe is to go out and assess your property damage. With Hurricane Irma bearing down on Florida’s coast, many Floridians are taking steps to secure and protect their property.
However, events best storm preparations are not always able to fend off the destructive force of a hurricane. If you are a Florida resident, chances are you’ve been through a destructive storm before. If you’ve lived through a Florida hurricane, than you know just how great the potential for property damage is.
Fortunately, many state residents have home and property insurance for instances like these. Insurance on your home and property should give you the peace-of-mind that, in the event of a catastrophic storm, you will be able to recoup the value of your property due to loss. But what happens when you receive a settlement offer from your insurance company that in no way meets your expected total loss value? Chances are, it’s not that you have over-inflated the value of your property.
Last time we wrote about the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal, the current figure of roughly 2 million customers affected had just been increased to nearly 3.5 million. What we saw was the uncovering of a scandal that was far more deep-seated than previously thought. Through the creation of unauthorized accounts for various consumer services, Wells Fargo had earned millions in fraudulent funds.
Apparently, its even worse than that.
A recent report shows that there appears to be an additional 1.4 million fake accounts, about 190,000 of which accrued fees. The additional accounts were uncovered by a third-party investigator hired by Wells Fargo to uncover the extent of the issue internally.
Is 2008 far enough in our rear-view that we’ve already forgotten the same mistakes that brought the financial industry-and U.S. economy-to the brink of collapse? Evidently, it is for banks and policymakers.
You have probably been hearing a lot of talk about impending “reviews” of current financial regulation measures; the very regulations put in place immediately following the aftermath of the 2008 collapse; the very measures that are meant to ensure that kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore. However, these calls for review signal a clear intention for some of a desire for wide-scale financial deregulation.
If you’re smart, you are planning for your financial future. Retirement investing is one of the surest methods for building a nest-egg.
Most likely, you’re familiar with the concept of retirement investing. Typically, you can direct funds from your personal income into tax-sheltered or tax-deferred accounts. This is known as a 401(k).
However, there are alternative investment options to a 401(k) available. You can also invest in a 403(b) or a 157(b). These alternative options allow you to invest in certain investment options. It’s important to remember, though, that not every employer offers these plans.
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) recently reached a settlement sum of $5.5 billion with the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in the agency’s lawsuit.
This settles at least one of the the two mortgage-baked securities lawsuits against RBS in U.S. courts. Another lawsuit remains pending with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). According to the Reuters article, experts are estimating at least $10 billion will go towards the settlement. It is slated to be the largest fine ever paid by the bank in U.S. courts.
Amid the fallout of 2008, when the nation’s banking giants toppled and our economy was sent reeling, Federal legislators and regulators decided that changes were needed. Most of these changes took shape as the Dodd-Frank Act, which provide the framework for much of our current banking regulation and oversight.
You’re probably familiar with Dodd-Frank, at least in part. It’s been a near constant topic of discussion on both Wall Street and Capitol Hill since it took effect. And this conversation has only increased during the Trump Administration.
There’s a new wild west. The internet age has brought bank robbers from the prairie plains to the world wide web. As investors and brokerage firms increasingly rely on computers for processing trades and managing portfolios, the risk of your investment data increases too. One of the biggest threats to online data is ransomware.
Ransomware is a computer virus that targets your computers digital files and literally holds them for ransom until a payment is sent for their release. So far this year, we have already experienced two widespread ransomware attacks: the WannaCry virus, back in May, and now the Petya virus in June.
Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog