Finra securities arbitration panels have handed investors two huge wins in recent months, but lawyers and industry observers are divided about whether such noticeable awards signal favorably for investors.
Regardless, the awards — from the three-member panels of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. of New York and Washington — are among the largest ever.
Last month, Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. was ordered to pay $39.8 million to a group affiliated with the Freemasons in a case that stemmed from the collapse of Refco Inc.
The arbitration panel ruled that Merrill Lynch of New York must pay $30.6 million in compensatory damages — plus interest — to the Trustees of the Masonic Hall and Asylum Fund in Utica, N.Y.
The interest on the claim began accruing in November 2005 and totals $9.2 million.
In February, STMicroelectronics, a chip maker based in Geneva, was awarded $406 million by a Finra arbitration panel in a dispute with Credit Suisse Group Inc. of Zurich, Switzerland, over the unauthorized purchase of auction rate securities.
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