2018 - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Dec 18, 2018

Page Perry, LLC and Robert Wayne Pearce, PA Dissolve Joint Venture

Effective January 1, 2011, Page Perry, LLC and Robert Wayne Pearce, PA have dissolved their joint venture to develop, cultivate and represent clients with claims arising out of the purchase of municipal arbitrage funds sponsored by Citigroup and its affiliates. The two firms will continue to jointly represent clients and prospective clients that they originated together prior to January 1, 2011. FREE CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEYS WHO CAN HANDLE YOUR SECURITIES AND COMMODITIES PROBLEMS Contact The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., in Boca Raton to discuss your fraud or misrepresentation claim. The firm can be reached by phone at 561-338-0037, toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail.

Oct 9, 2018

Attorneys Who Sue Stockbrokers

The independent broker and investment advisor model has gained popularity among financial advisors in recent years. According to Attorney Pearce the business model of choice for many successful independent financial advisors has been the only choice for the lesser quality broker and advisor with multiple customer complaints and regulatory problems. The flaw in this business model of multiple small one to two person offices is the lack of supervision over the salespersons who need the most supervision. In recent years, many rogue (bad) broker and investment advisor cases have spawned out of these small offices, including Ponzi schemes, selling away, and outright theft of funds with multiple victims. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. is handling a number of these cases and investigating new ones every day. Representing clients throughout Florida and nationwide. For more information on the rogue (bad) broker and investment advisor cases that we are working on, click on the links below: Our Brokers in the News Blog Archives Our Brokerage Firms in the News Blog Archives Our Investment Advisors in the News Blog Archives FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION WITH LAWYERS WHO AGGRESSIVELY PROSECUTE ROGUE (BAD) BROKERS IN ALL SECURITIES, COMMODITIES AND INVESTMENT DISPUTES The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. understands what is at stake in securities, commodities and investment law matters and constantly strives to secure the most favorable possible result for victims of Rogue (Bad) brokers. Attorney Pearce provides a complete review of your case and fully explains your legal options if you are the victim of a Rogue (Bad) broker. The firm works to ensure that you have all of the information necessary to make a sound decision before any action is taken in your case. For dedicated representation by a law firm with substantial experience in all kinds of securities, commodities and investment disputes, contact the firm by telephone at 561-338-0037 or toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail. We may also be able to arrange a meeting with you at offices located in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida and elsewhere.

Aug 21, 2018

Ponzi Schemes

The Ponzi Scheme is named after Charles Ponzi who, in 1920, offered and sold his supposed arbitrage investment throughout Boston, Massachusetts. He claimed he would double investors’ money in 90 days through a bizarre plan to buy and resell international postal-reply coupons. The scheme ultimately proved to be merely a masquerade for paying off early investors with the deposits of later investors. And so the Ponzi Scheme became recognized as a distinct type of investment fraud in which the schemer finances its payout of returns to investors using money paid in by new investors. To keep the scheme afloat, these firms work to attract new money by promising investors high returns with little or no risk. The funds that a Ponzi Scheme generates are usually spent on enriching the manager of the scheme. Many of our readers are familiar with Ponzi Schemes. The most famous Ponzi Schemes in recent history were perpetrated by Bernie Madoff who has been sentenced to a 150 year prison term, and Scott Rothstein, a Florida attorney who will be in prison for 50 years. By the time a Ponzi scheme collapses or investors have discovered the plan, it can be difficult or impossible for investors to get back their money from the perpetrator of the fraud. But that doesn’t mean the investor is without hope. The Ponzi Scheme generally could not have been perpetrated without the veil of legitimacy provided by attorneys and accountants and those who sell the investment from reputable brokerage offices. One of our recent class actions, the Tri-Med Ponzi Scheme, resulted in $4.3 million in settlements with a nationally recognized law firm and Florida accountants who allegedly aided and abetted the scheme. Attorney Pearce and his staff members at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. worked on a number of Ponzi Scheme disputes. We have represented investors in Federal court class actions filed against the perpetrators of the scheme along with the lawyers and accountants who aided and abetted the scheme. We have also sued unregistered financial advisors and other salespersons in state court for violation of the anti-fraud provisions of the Federal and state securities laws and failure to register themselves or securities as required under the securities laws. Our FINRA arbitrations against member firms focus upon the failure to supervise their stockbrokers who went against firm policies and sold investments that were not vetted by management and sold as part of a fraudulent scheme. We bring multiple types of claims against the FINRA registered stockbrokers caught up in the Ponzi Scheme, including violations of the antifraud and registration provisions of the securities laws, common law fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, breach of contract, and failure to follow FINRA’S Conduct Rules by engaging in unauthorized Private Securities Transactions and Selling Away. Our attorneys are currently focused on investigating the alleged EquiAlt Funds Ponzi Scheme and reviewing investors’ cases against registered stockbrokers and unregistered salespersons who raised over $170 million from 1100 investors nationwide. We are investigating not only the salespersons but the law firm and accountants that represented the EquiAlt Funds. FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEYS WHO KNOW PONZI SCHEMES The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. understands what is at stake in alternative investment law matters and constantly strives to secure the most favorable possible result. Attorney Pearce provides a complete review of your case and fully explains your legal options. The firm works to ensure that you have all of the information necessary to make a sound decision before any action is taken in your case. For dedicated representation by a law firm with substantial experience in all kinds of securities, commodities and investment disputes, contact the firm by telephone at 561-338-0037 or toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail.

Jul 10, 2018

Alternative Investment Cases & Investigations

Investment fraud attorney Pearce and his staff members at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. have worked on and continue to work on a wide variety of alternative investment disputes. These investments fall outside of traditional stock and bond categories. In theory, anything that is not a traditional equity investment – common stock and preferred stock – or a traditional bond – coupon and zero-coupon debt – qualifies as an alternative investment. Thus, the category of alternative investments includes structured products, reverse convertibles, hedge funds, non-traded REITs, exchange traded funds, exchange traded notes and many others. Investment fraud lawyer representing clients throughout Florida and nationwide. Alternative investments are generally quite complex and present wide-ranging risk and regulatory issues, including suitability and disclosure issues, limited liquidity, lack of transparency, opaque and often expensive fee structures, lack of secondary market activity, and difficulty in pricing. These characteristics make it difficult for both brokers and investors to fully understand and appreciate the dangers and risks associated with alternative investments. In turn, this makes it difficult, if not impossible, for a broker to provide full and balanced disclosure regarding the alternative investment and its risks. In addition, most alternative investments pay high commissions to the brokerage firm that sells them and high fees to the firm that structures them (often the same firm). Accordingly, brokerage firms have major incentives to sell these investments. A brief description of some of our current Alternative Investment Cases and Investigations with links to other pages within our website and Investors Rights Blog to help answer your questions and help you recover your losses is below: Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Notes(ETNs) UBS ETRAC Exchange Traded Note Investors: How Do You Recover Your UBS ETRAC Investment Losses? Investing in ETFs Our ETF Blog Archives Our ETN Blog Archives Hedge Funds Investing in Hedge Funds Our Hedge Fund Blog Archives Municipal Arbitrage Structured Products Our MAT/ASTA Cases & Investigation Note Linked Structured Products Investing in Structured Products Investing in Note Linked Structured Products The UBS Lehman Brothers “100% Principal Protection” Note Fraud Our Structured Product Blog Archives Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Our REIT Blog Archives Reverse Convertible Structured Products Our Reverse Convertible Blog Archives Steepener Structured Products Our Steepener Blog Archives UBS Enhanced Yield Strategy (“UBS-YES”) Variable Annuities and Equity Indexed Annuities Our Annuities Blog Archives FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION WITH ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT DISPUTE ATTORNEYS The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. understands what is at stake in alternative investment law matters and constantly strives to secure the most favorable possible result. Investment fraud attorney Pearce provides a complete review of your case and fully explains your legal options. The firm works to ensure that you have all of the information necessary to make a sound decision before any action is taken in your case. For dedicated representation by a law firm with substantial experience in all kinds of securities, commodities and investment disputes, contact the firm by telephone at 561-338-0037 or toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail. We may also be able to arrange a meeting with you at offices located in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida and elsewhere.

Jun 26, 2018

Reverse Convertible Structured Products

The Law Office of Robert Wayne Pearce, P. A. is investigating and representing clients in another group of structured products that were mass marketed and mass misrepresented to fixed income investors which were reverse convertibles known as ELKS, PLUS, yield optimization notes, etc. According to Attorney Pearce they were routinely sold to individual investors as a way of earning more income without taking on greater risk. They were pitched as safe investments and many investors were told that their principal would absolutely be protected. The only risk, according to many investors, was that the rate of return could fluctuate. In truth, reverse convertibles were complex investments involving options that put investors’ principal at a significant risk of loss. The high-yield, short-term notes (IOUs) that investors thought they were buying were linked to the performance of a stock or basket of stocks that investors actually received at maturity instead of a return of their cash investment. If you are not suitable for option investing you are not suitable for reverse convertibles. Representing clients throughout Florida and nationwide. Se habla español They are also known as “revertible notes” or “reverse exchangeable securities” and sold under a variety of proprietary names that may or may not use the term “structured” to describe the product. Reverse convertibles are debt obligations of the issuer that are tied to the performance of an unrelated security or basket of securities. Although often described as debt instruments, they are far more complex than a traditional bond and involve elements of options trading. Reverse convertibles expose investors not only to risks traditionally associated with bonds and other fixed income products-such as the risk of issuer default and inflation risk-but also to the additional risks of the unrelated assets, which are often stocks. For more information about reverse convertibles and our cases and investigations, click on the links below: Our Reverse Convertible Blog Archives FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION WITH REVERSE CONVERTIBLE INVESTMENT DISPUTE ATTORNEYS The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. understands what is at stake in securities, commodities and Reverse Convertible investment law matters and constantly strives to secure the most favorable possible result. Attorney Pearce provides a complete review of your case and fully explains your legal options. The firm works to ensure that you have all of the information necessary to make a sound decision before any action is taken in your case. For dedicated representation by a law firm with substantial experience in all kinds of securities, commodities and investment disputes, contact the firm by telephone at 561-338-0037 or toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail. We may also be able to arrange a meeting with you at offices located in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida and elsewhere.

May 22, 2018

Puerto Rico Closed-Bond Funds

The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce P.A. handles Closed-end Bond Fund cases throughout the United States and within Puerto Rico. A closed-end bond fund is a publicly traded investment company that raises a fixed amount of capital through an initial public offering (IPO) to purchase and hold bonds for a certain period. The closed end fund is structured, listed and traded like a stock, usually on a major stock exchange. Many investors confuse closed-end bond funds with the more traditional open-end mutual funds. Attorney Pearce will explain the differences: once the fund begins operating, a closed-end bond fund is closed to new capital; closed-end bond fund shares trade on a stock exchange rather than being redeemed directly by the fund; shares of a closed-end bond fund can be purchased or sold throughout the day as opposed to an open-end fund that can be traded only at the closing price at the end of the market day; closed-end bond funds often sell at a premium or discount to net asset value, but an open-end fund sells at its net asset value; and closed-end bond funds can own a greater amount of illiquid investments than open-end funds. Representing clients throughout Florida and nationwide. Brokerage firms often omit disclosing the risks associated with closed-end bond funds. Here are some of the important facts that brokerage firms have neglected to inform investors: The first 5% of the investors’ money in a closed-end IPO goes straight into the pocket of the people selling the fund as a commission; closed-end bond funds are not actively managed, meaning the bonds are held to a certain date and sold at the prevailing price with either gains or losses; closed-end shares usually trade for less than their net asset value because brokerage firms deliberately sell these IPOs at the market’s peak when enthusiasm runs high and the shares are poised to fall; and shares of closed-end bond IPOs are incredibly volatile. So why are investors still being steered by their brokers to closed-end bond funds, particularly those in an IPO? It’s the commissions! For more information about Closed-end Bond Funds and our cases and investigations, click on the links below: FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION WITH CLOSED-END BOND FUND INVESTMENT DISPUTE ATTORNEYS The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. understands what is at stake in closed-end investment law matters and constantly strives to secure the most favorable possible result. Attorney Pearce provides a complete review of your case and fully explains your legal options when are sold misrepresented and/or unsuitable closed-end bond funds. The firm works to ensure that you have all of the information necessary to make a sound decision before any action is taken in your case. For dedicated representation by a law firm with substantial experience in all kinds of securities, commodities and investment disputes, contact the firm by telephone at 561-338-0037 or toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail.

May 8, 2018

Hedge Funds

The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. has Hedge Fund cases because they were touted as the panacea for bad markets. Hedge Fund managers claimed to offer diversification through investments that purportedly were not correlated with other asset classes (i.e., they go up when others go down and visa-versa). However, according to Attorney Pearce, in 2008-2009 many investors found out the hard way that was untrue when most investments became correlated and all suffered tremendous losses at the same time. Hedge Funds simply did not perform as hyped and fund managers hid important facts from investors. The common thread in Hedge Funds that has led to many cases is the lack of registration, lack of disclosure, and lack of regulatory oversight (although changes are belatedly underway) making them ripe for fraud and unsuitable investment recommendations. Representing clients throughout Florida and nationwide. Hedge funds are similar to mutual funds in that they pool and invest investors’ money in an effort to earn a positive return. Many hedge funds seek to profit in all kinds of markets by using leverage, short-selling, and other speculative investment practices that are not typically used by mutual funds. Unlike mutual funds, hedge funds are not subject to some of the regulations that are designed to protect investors. Hedge funds are not required to follow any standard procedure when calculating performance, and they may invest in securities that are illiquid and difficult to value. On the other hand, federal securities laws specifically prescribe a mutual fund’s methodology for advertising and calculating current yield, tax-equivalent yield, average annual total return, and after-tax return. Any investor provided with performance data for a hedge fund, should verify whether it reflects cash or assets actually received by the fund as opposed to the manager’s estimate of the change in value of fund assets and whether the data includes deductions for fees. Hedge fund investing can pose several risks for inexperienced and risk averse investors. One of the primary risks associated with hedge fund investing is management’s use of leverage. Hedge funds also invest in other non-conventional securities such as derivatives (options and futures), and they engage in short-selling strategies (selling a security it does not own), which can likewise increase the potential for major losses to its investors. In addition, hedge funds are able to suspend redemptions in certain scenarios, including in times of market distress or when their investments cannot be quickly or easily liquidated. Furthermore, hedge funds may charge investors a redemption fee before allowing them to cash in shares. Hedge funds may also invest in highly illiquid securities. Investors are encouraged to fully understand a hedge fund’s valuation process and know the extent to which a fund’s securities are valued by independent sources. Investors should also keep in mind that valuations of fund assets will affect the fees that the manager charges. FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION WITH HEDGE FUND INVESTMENT DISPUTE ATTORNEYS The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. understands what is at stake in securities, commodities and Hedge Fund investment law matters and constantly strives to secure the most favorable possible result. Attorney Pearce provides a complete review of your case and fully explains your legal options. The firm works to ensure that you have all of the information necessary to make a sound decision before any action is taken in your case. For dedicated representation by a law firm with substantial experience in all kinds of securities, commodities and investment disputes, contact the firm by telephone at 561-338-0037 or toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail.