For decades, lawsuits and
actions by industry regulators have been initiated against "penny stock"
telemarketers, "micro-cap" stockbrokers, "boiler room operators" and other
firms that walk the razor's edge between legal and illegal conduct. Such
companies have long used high-pressure sales tactics, and have targeted
inexperienced and elderly investors. In recent years, however, criminal fraud
and misconduct has been discovered within (formerly) respected Fortune 500
companies and prominent Wall Street brokerage firms.
Criminal misconduct, shady accounting practices and conflicts of interest
between auditors and the audited, have brought down companies such as Enron
and WorldCom, wiping out investors' portfolios. Many "dot.com" companies —
whose bubbles burst by early 2000 — were overvalued by their management, and
misrepresented by their brokers. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been
lost due to misconduct by employees at "reputable" brokerage firms, including
Credit Suisse First Boston, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley,
and Salmon Smith Barney. Analysts and brokers sometimes "hyped" certain
stocks to generate additional fees, commissions and other financial
incentives for their firms' investment banking divisions.
Some Investments and Investment Activities "Under our Microscope" include the following:
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Equity indexed annuities
Allianz annuity equity indexed fund
American equity indexed annuity forms
Excessive commissions in equity
indexed annuity agreements
Who are the beneficiaries of an
equity indexed annuity
High exist fees for equity indexed annuity contracts
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Inappropriate us of equity indexed annuity for an IRA
Equity indexed annuity Regulation (and lack of regulation!!)
Indexed fixed annuity contracts
Interest crediting methods for equity indexed annuities
Pensions vs equity indexed annuities
Problems with selling equity indexed annuities. Exit fees!
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Mutual funds that contained these stocks are also under investigation.
Do I have an Equity Indexed Annuity Lawsuits?
