Investor's Guide to Loss Recovery: Rights, Mediation, Arbitration, and Other Strategies

ISBN-13: 9780470937624 / Angielski / Twarda / 2011 / 240 str.

Louis L. Straney

Opis

Essential guidance for recovery of lost assets through arbitration, mediation and other forms of conflict resolution Since the discovery of the Madoff fraud and investment scandals associated with the global credit crisis, investors have become aware that they can fight back and demand both justice and monetary recovery. To date, the only reliable resources on securities arbitration have been either sensationalized accounts of how to sue Wall Street or legal references, which provide no practical application. Filled with expert guidance showing investors how arbitration works, Investor's Guide to Loss Recovery fills that gap by providing a focus on all of the investor's options when a conflict arises.

• Includes charts showing the major areas of litigation as well as empirical evidence of enhanced awareness of investment misconduct
• Proprietary research by the author, demonstrating arbitration results
• Analysis on how newly enacted regulatory reforms will impact the process and options for financial fraud victims
• Personal interviews with securities attorneys, experts and investors
• Detailed scripts of initial attorney interviews, mediation and arbitration

New financial regulations are impacting the options available to investors looking to recover assets. Investor's Guide to Loss Recovery is must-have reading for every investor, financial advisor, and attorney.

Spis treści

Foreword xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xix

Introduction xxiii

CHAPTER 1: Road to Recovery 1

A Sharp Stick 1

Dodd–Frank: The Engine That Could 2

Rejecting Acceptance 4

The Incalculable Threshold 5

Dealing with the Demons 6

What Went Wrong? 7

What Can Be Done? 7

Criminal Trials 8

Civil Litigation 14

Class Action Litigation 17

Mediation 18

Arbitration 20

Notes 21

CHAPTER 2: Rock, Paper, Scissors 25

Five, Cinq, Fu¨nf, Cinco 25

Category 1 ADR: Member Firm versus Member Firm 27

Category 2 ADR: Employee versus Member Firm 29

Category 3 ADR: Member Firm versus Employee 31

Category 4 ADR: Member Firm versus Private Investor 33

Category 5 ADR: Investor versus Member Firm 34

Notes 38

CHAPTER 3: Paperwork and Nostalgia 41

Equity, Epieikeia, or Myth? 41

Challenge of Solo Flight 44

A Trip to the Clinic 46

Paper versus Panel 47

The Perfect Counsel Is Imperfect 48

The Cone of (Near Total) Silence 50

Historical Revisionism 51

Strange Ways 52

Notes 53

CHAPTER 4: Revolutionary Acts 55

Jewels Among the Stones 55

Three Chords and the Truth 57

Your Story, Your Commitment 57

The Edge of Courage 60

More Than a Suggestion 62

Customer Requirements, List 2 62

I See Something That You Don′t See 64

Respondent Requirements, List 1 65

Negligence/Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Lists 9 and 10 66

Churning, Lists 3 and 4 67

Failure to Supervise, Lists 5 and 6 69

Misrepresentation/Omissions, Lists 7 and 8 70

Unauthorized Trading, Lists 11 and 12 71

Unsuitability, Lists 13 and 14 72

Reform through Reduction? 73

A Venue for Intellect and Reason 74

Notes 75

CHAPTER 5: Expect the Unexpected 77

Tracking an M–80 77

The Baker′s Dozen 78

New Account Paperwork 79

Customer Monthly Statements 81

Customer Federal Tax Returns and Schedules 83

Communications 84

Presentations and Proposals 85

Commissions and Fees 86

Compliance Manuals and Evidence of Supervision 88

Business Unit Audit Results 90

Regulatory Central Data Records 91

Prospectuses and Offering Documents 92

Phone Records 93

Marketing Materials 93

Damage Calculations 94

Notes 97

CHAPTER 6: The Lean Compromise 99

In Other Words, Schiedsgerichtsvereinbarung 99

Augustinian Guidance 101

Mediation, Act I: Getting to Know You 106

Mediation, Act II: We Are Gathered Together 108

Mediation, Act III: I′m a Victim 109

Mediation, Act IV: Hold On, Not So Fast 111

Mediation, Act V: Deal or No Deal? 113

Notes 115

CHAPTER 7: Arbitration: People, Places, and Things 117

Arbitration (Third Century B.C.) 117

People 119

Places 121

Things 122

Arbitration Script 125

Notes 150

CHAPTER 8: The Advocates 151

Advocacy, Not Advice 151

Margery S. Bronster 152

Louis F. Burke 156

G. Kent Edwards 163

Richard S. Frankowski 167

Jan Graham 173

Charles C. Mihalek 176

Tina Morin 180

William S. Shepherd 186

Wisdom 2,317 Miles from Wall Street 189

Notes 189

CHAPTER 9: End of the Beginning 191

Wabi–Sabi 191

Twenty–Four Points 192

A Graphic Graphic 195

The Equation 198

We the People 198

Notes 199

About the Author 201

Index 203

O autorze

Louis L. Straney spent twenty–four years as a senior manager in the financial services industry, including a four–year tenure at the director level with Smith Barney. In 2007, he created Arbitration Insight, LLC, through which he currently provides expert witness and consulting services for securities– and commodities–related disputes. He has published articles in law journals and a self–study course on securities fraud for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), where he provides training and is a regular speaker at U.S. and international conferences and events.

Blurb

Praise for Investor′s Guide to Loss Recovery Rights, Mediation, Arbitration, and Other Strategies

"Louis Straney′s Investor′s Guide to Loss Recovery is a must–read for any investor. Broker negligence and wrongdoing are significant problems for today′s investor. Lou Straney recognizes that investors need to know that they can recover losses caused by brokers and investment firms. This well–organized and thoughtful book is an important guide to the type of help available. The book′s straightforward and understandable format makes it easy for the investor to grasp how the recovery process works. Kudos to Lou for shining light where light is much needed!" Robert K. Savage, Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor, Investor Advocacy Clinic, Florida International University College of Law

"Investment fraud is one of the last taboos. Those who have been victimized rarely talk about it and are humiliated typically by someone they′ve known and trusted for a long time. Louis Straney pulls away the thick curtains and shines a light on one of the darkest subjects in our culture. What do you do if you (or a client) have been fleeced? Straney will help you find justice and compensation in the midst of a broken system that does little to protect individual investors. This book is essential for anyone interested in investment fraud and deception." John F. Wasik, author, The Cul–de–Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream

"In this book, Lou Straney has demystified arbitration. I lived a 3–D walkthrough of the arbitration process, and it felt?like being with Straney in the arbitration room. This arbitration guide is an extraordinarily relevant demonstration that recovery of losses is possible if conducted properly. It′s a must–have for investors!" M. Messaoud Abda, CFE, CICA, CGA, CSI, MBA, FICB, Professeur – Directeur, Programme de Lutte contre la criminalité financière?Faculté d′administration, Université De Sherbrooke – Campus de Longueuil

"What I can say is that in my situation, where it was a David and Goliath, where I stood alone against a large brokerage firm, Lou revealed more in this book than I′d learned in sixteen years from my broker. This book should have been on my shelf ten years ago!" Karen Rey, RN, Territory Sales Manager, Alaska, Neuromodulation Division, St. Jude Medical