Lionheart Group Scam Prevention Steps

CPI Financial New Financial Law Contains Whistleblower Protections and Incentives Security Management Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (.pdf), whistleblowers are directed to report fraud cases directly to the Securities and … Massive whistleblower incentives included in new Wall Street reform law Lexology (registration) Law Lets Whistle-Blowers Get Rich For Doing The Right Thing Forbes Letting Wall Street off the hook Socialist Worker Online American Thinker (blog)

The Big Four accountants dominance of auditing is facing mounting international scrutiny after the UK’s House of Lords launched a review into the firms’ role in the financial crisis

Continue reading here:
UK Lords take long hard look at Big Four

The summer stock market blast higher has wiped out the conviction of short sellers. Bears are back in hibernation and Stock Short Sales at 2-Year Low, Data Explorers Says.Investors are exiting bearish bets on global equities, pushing bullish wagers on stocks to a two- year high versus short sales, according to Data Explorers. The firm’s long-short ratio has risen to 9.5, having surged from 5.75 in September 2008 when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse intensified the financial crisis, …

See original here:
Bears Go Into Hibernation – Stock Short Sales at 2-Year Low

Goldman Sachs is facing a threat by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to hire outside accountants to comb through the bank’s systems for data on its derivatives business, the panel’s chairman has said

Read more:
Goldman threatened with audit by US panel

Personal Financial Management mortgage scam hearing · SBA Low-Interest Disaster Loans · Hillary Clinton on No Child Left Behind and College Loans · Home Loan Predictions for 2010 – Sam White · Freddie Mac En Español …

Read more here:
Personal Financial Management mortgage scam hearing | Zunley

General Electric unexpectedly increased its quarterly dividend by 20 per cent in an effort to show that the diversified industrial conglomerate is over the worst of the financial crisis and confident about the future.

Follow this link:
GE raises dividend in show of strength

Investment powerhouse Blackstone has raised a greater-than-anticipated $13.5bn for its new buy-out fund, the biggest since the financial markets crisis, in a strong quarter in which income rose 13 per cent to $205m

See the article here:
Blackstone buy-out fund hits $13.5bn

This interesting information was posted on a Canadian discussion board where the members were talking about United First Financial . As you saw here, some of the top people in UFF see that the company is going under , and are looking for a way to take this horrible software to a new company, and leave all the dead weight agents behind. Too bad users aren’t actually using the software anymore, according to the below. A little more info: There have been approximately 30,500 Money Merge Accounts sold. UFirst recorded the unique users who logged into their version 3 and version 4 MMA accounts from January through April of this year. Here are their findings: v3: Jan 953 Feb 896 Mar 891 Apr 787 v4: Jan 7534 Feb 7328 Mar 7401 Apr 6968 Though sales are slowly increasing by approximately 200 per month, logins are declining by about 188 per month. Assuming new clients at least login during their first month, that means approximately 400 people are abandoning the MMA, every month. In April, when UFirst had approximately 30,000 paid or paying MMA customers, there were only 7755 unique logins. That’s only 26% of their clients. There is one inescapable fact to extract from this: Almost 75% of MMA users have abandoned the product. Please don’t waste your $3,500 on this useless software .

Read the original here:
Ufirst Financial software users jumping ship

Hugh Hefner, the man with perhaps the strongest claim to having taken sex public, wants to go private. Given the financial state of his company, he may be making a virtue of necessity

Follow this link:
Private matters

General Electric will emerge largely unscathed from the financial reform process in the US, allowing the conglomerate to keep the business model combining industrial and financial products

Follow this link:
GE to keep its businesses combined

The US bank confirms investors’ fears that Wall Street’s year-long rebound from the financial crisis had come to a halt, offsetting steady improvement in the financial health of the country

See the article here:
JPMorgan signals end of Wall St rebound

The fact that the internal candidates Jeff Urwin and Kevin Willsey were promoted to lead JPMorgan’s investment bank in Canada and the US shows how the group thrived while others suffered in the financial crisis

Read the rest here:
JPMorgan names new joint leaders of US investment unit

Investment banks are once again hiring bankers to sell and trade mortgage-backed securities, the packages of loans that were at the heart of the financial crisis, reflecting a belief that the worst is over in the US housing market

More:
Bank mortgage securities desks in hiring spree

US car dealers have reinforced their reputation in recent weeks as one of the most potent lobby groups in Washington by persuading Congress to exclude them from the financial services reform bill now in its final stages of passage

The rest is here:
Car dealers show range of lobbying powers

Intel reported the best quarter in its history as corporate customers increased information technology spending, boosting hopes that businesses are engaged in a long-awaited “refresh” of both hardware and software in the aftermath of the financial crisis

Continued here:
Record quarter for Intel lifts tech sector

All the buzz in News (blog) Two Thumbs Down on the Financial-Reform Bill New York Times (blog) Anything that makes Wall Street poorer sounds good to me. Sometimes the emotional response is the right one. We should never have relied on these despicable … Five Reasons to Cheer the Financial Reform Bill FrumForum all 44 news articles

… the headlines for the wrong reasons again. This time, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. has sued Goldman for misleading it to buy the preferred stock of Fannie Mae (FNMA), which became practically valueless. … … The Bayou Scam . Goldman has been subject to a number of litigations of late. Last month, the securities regulator Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ordered Goldman to pay $20.6 million to settle claims with the creditors of a failed hedge fund. …

Originally posted here:
Goldman Sued Again – Analyst Blog | Stock Market News & Stocks to …

Goldman, which had acted as an underwriter for the offering of Fannie Mae in 2007, has been accused of misrepresenting the financial health of Fannie Mae at that time. Liberty Mutual, which had invested $62.5 million to buy the Fannie … The Bayou Scam . Goldman has been subject to a number of litigations of late. Last month, the securities regulator Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ordered Goldman to pay $20.6 million to settle claims with the creditors of …

Read more:
Goldman Sued Again | Daily Markets

If your home loan is serviced through Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, the U.S. government requires your borrower to discuss loan modification with you and fully evaluate your financial situation to determine your eligibility–even if you’ve never missed a payment. … You don’t want to fall victim to a scam , but neither does your lender. Thus, it will want proof that your current financial situation does not permit you to continue making your mortgage payment each month. …

The rest is here:
Five Tips for a Successful Mortgage Loan Modification

The demise of United First Financial is apparently imminent. The company has had anemic sales for more than a year, and it seemed it was only a matter of time before Ufirst folded. The end is coming nearer, as people at the top of the pyramid are looking to  the best people (not those bad ones who just get drain cash from the company every time they get a commission check) to find a new way to sell this crappy software via an MLM model. Witness this email from Rich Schaffer, a pyramid-topper who gives excellent details about just how awful U1st Financial is doing! Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2010 10:59 PM Subject: Proposal for a New Company! From: Richard Schaffer Everyone, In lieu of all the challenges and difficulties that we have all been struggling with over the last 12-18/m,  I genuinely believe that it is time that we all accept a few very harsh realities. But before I get into that, the primary reason for this e-mail is that I have an idea, a proposal really, that I truly believe with everything in my soul can absolutely change the direction of our Company moving forward! What I am about to say is not intended for anyone (nor has it been shared with anyone) not included in this e-mail. But I think it’s time that someone said what everyone is already thinking – but everyone is apparently afraid to actually say out loud. Let me begin by trying to set the stage with 10 main points regarding what is really happening, how everyone (actually) feels, and what is going to inevitably occur if we don’t take some very drastic measures fast! The ‘Network’ is dead, and it’s not coming back. This is not intended to be negative, it is simple being honest and realistic. I don’t think it even matters if we launch V5, complete ‘Step’ 3, change the Company/Product name or change our comp plan or the MLM commission platform. There has simply been too much damage done for too long. That is no one’s fault in particular. Sometimes business is like life and relationships; even with all the best of intentions and even between 2 people that are ‘right’ for each other, the timing or the circumstances are simply not right. Or a relationship ends because the couple simply shares too much ‘reality’ due to all that has happened and it dies – and it can never be the same. I believe Private Labeling and HR have tremendous potential! I believe as much as ever that our product is awesome – and needed more than ever in the marketplace! We are unfortunately (legally) stuck paying far too many people O.R. Commissions that don’t do anything or provide any value to the Company – which is sucking up commission dollars that could otherwise be paying the (few) active Leaders in the Field that matter. The Private Label and HR Initiatives will end up capturing most all of our truly ‘key’ people. This is both good – and bad. Good for the obvious reason. Bad, because in the process it will ultimately cannibalize the ‘Network’ and cause some very real friction (if not lawsuits – or both) in the Field when Leaders/Uplines begin to accuse the Company of ‘taking’ their key people that they recruited, trained etc and end up NOT getting pd for their future efforts/production. Compromising by paying a few levels will NOT solve the problem (as regardless of how many levels you do pay – it will always be one too few for someone!) Also, in so doing, we will effectively dilute the entire basis of what we are looking to accomplish with those Campaigns to begin with! So it will end up being counterintuitive. We cannot rush the release of V5 at the risk of it being anything but perfect! There is FAR too much riding on it with large Company’s on the line! We will have ONE shot to get that right! So, we need to (collectively) buy as much time as necessary to do so! The Company is no doubt literally hemorrhaging cash right now. And we have to do everything possible to keep it from getting any worse than can be helped by keeping as many people active as possible. Including keeping key potential PL and HR candidates into play (at least on the sidelines as spectators) until they are fully ready to go. Corporate is no longer ‘in love’ with the Network – and unfortunately, neither are the key Leaders. It is simply a fact. Therefore, none of us will probably ever really get behind it the way that would be necessary for it to work – at least not enough to really make it worth it. We cannot either justify financially or logistically having a National Convention at this time. Both due to finances and the negative perspective that having only 300-400 people attend would create. Instead we should set a date (say Oct) that the 10 of us along with 25-50 from each Organization come together to LAUNCH our NEW direction! This would allow us to bring together maybe 100, maybe even 250 of the very BEST Leaders and Agents that we have hand selected to be a part of our NEW COMPANY!! I think if you are all being completely honest with yourselves, you cannot help but agree with most, if not all of what I just stated above. Therefore, I propose that instead of just sitting back and watching the Network die like a rabbit that you just ran over on the side of the road; that we collectively take ownership of it – and PROACTIVELY phase it out! Strategize it so that we can effectively ‘spin’ it in a positive direction of OUR choosing instead of the one that will inevitably be created by the Field. We take the Top 5 most visible and identifiable Leaders in the Field; Steve, Dave, George, Mike and Myself, and we go thru our entire Company and collectively SELECT each of our TOP 20,25 even 50 people in our Organizations and we divide them among the Leaders just mentioned. NOT as ‘level’ agents in a ‘Network’ but rather specifically to market our Program thru the HR and PL platforms. They would report to us directly just like account executives. This may apply primarily to the PL Initiative as we may have to structure the HR component somewhat differently. But we would clearly play major roles in that Campaign as well. We would take possibly $1.00 from EVERY P.L. Deal and put it into a Pool for the 5 of us to encourage everyone to work together and to avoid any backbiting etc. We would also want a limited equity stake in at least the P.L. Initiative and some degree of nominal subsidy during the next 3-6/m while we are building this new platform and completing this process. There are numerous details that we’d have to obvious sort out, but you hopefully get the idea. This would address nearly every issue that we have – and will inevitably face within the next 6/m. It would also keep the top Leaders in the game (very key) keep as many agents producing during this ‘transition’ as possible – and ‘buy’ us the time necessary to complete all of the tools and resources required to ensure that those Initiatives are successful. It also allows us to trim the fat and (legally) carve out anyone that, quite frankly, we simply don’t want anymore. But more importantly, allow us to cherry pick the very best! Those that we actually like, trust, respect and know are genuinely capable of helping us to be successful with our new direction. I am also VERY confident that with the Leaders behind it, we CAN ‘sell’ this in a very positive way!! This IS the best overall solution to the numerous challenges that we are all struggling with – I believe it in the depths of my soul!! I would like to suggest that we try to get EVERYONE (at the SAME time) on a call to discuss this ASAP!! Time unfortunately is NOT on our side right now. And I just don’t want to see us blow this chance when we still have some very key people on board that could ensure that this is a major success Please consider this with a very open mind and take the time to fully digest the overall picture that I have tried to paint here. This could truly be the best way for us to salvage what we have – and maximize what we’re looking to do. Rich

Follow this link:
Ufirst Financial: This is what a collapsing pyramid looks like

Swissinfo Galleon Group Late to the Party in Financial Sector Scandals Associated Content Wall Street analyst Danielle Chiesi has been accused of, and is pleading not guilty to, securities fraud and conspiracy charges in the Galleon hedge fund … Dangerous liaisons at IBM: Inside the biggest hedge fund insider-trading ring CNNMoney Sordid tale: The IBM exec and the hedge fund analyst FierceFinance Trading Inside Information was Like an Orgasm for Danielle Chiesi VedicSutra eNews (blog) all 41 news articles

Another UBS Banker Decamps for Moelis Wall Street Journal (blog) … hires has been part of the firm's strategy to lure top names, especially during the financial crisis when bonuses were all but wiped out on Wall Street . … and more

The last-minute decision by the US Congress to scrap a $19bn bank levy to pay for the financial reform bill has left Wall Street nonplussed

View post:
Wall Street sees little gain in levy win

Joseph Cassano, the former AIG executive whose financial-products division helped trigger a $180bn government bailout, launched a staunch defence of his business’s actions leading up to the financial crisis

Read more here:
Former AIG executive defends actions

Kansas City Star Brown's threat gets bank tax removed Boston Globe Yet he has proved to be a highly adept negotiator in his own right on the Wall Street overhaul bill, using the leverage of his swing vote in the Senate to … Wall Street reform conference reopens Politico Joint panel agrees to end TARP early to help pay for financial reform Los Angeles Times Is Scott Brown a Game-Changer on the Financial Bill? National Review Online (blog) Reuters all 1,204 news articles

The Detroit carmaker may sell its stakes in the financial-services group GMAC and parts maker Delphi, as part of its drive to further reduce debt

See the original post here:
General Motors eyes asset sales

Business Rx: The books of summer Washington Post “Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves,” by Andrew Ross Sorkin (2009) … and more

Heightened regulatory scrutiny and litigation arising in the wake of the financial crisis present a significant growth opportunity for the US business advisory group

See the original post here:
Tighter rules offer opportunities to FTI

Bank auditors face being forced to blow the whistle on irregularities in their clients’ accounts under plans to be discussed this week with the UK’s Financial Services Authority

See the article here:
Bank auditors eyed for whistleblower role

Funding costs could rise under new rules for the securitisation markets that provided most consumer credit before the financial crisis and were also the main source of losses from the crisis

Continue reading here:
New risk rules set to increase funding costs

Whether wrangling with a new consumer protection agency or being held to stricter underwriting standards for home loans, retail banks are preparing for broad changes because of the financial reform bill

More here:
Retail banks feel pinch of tougher oversight

Obscure entities known as futures commission merchants (FCMs) are set to see their role in the financial system expand dramatically under US reform legislation, pushing most derivatives transactions into clearing houses

Follow this link:
Obscure brokers to get a new role

The latest news in the Koss Corporation fraud committed by ex-VP of Finance Sue Sachdeva is a lawsuit filed by the company against Sachdeva and auditors Grant Thornton . It’s unlikely that the company will collect much from Sachdeva, but the auditors are a great target because they have deep pockets (especially in the form of a professional liability insurance policy). Everyone expected Koss to sue Grant Thornton. It’s just standard procedure to sue the auditors after a fraud is discovered. It never matters to the companies that audits are not designed to detect fraud and the auditors tell management this over and over. It never matters to the companies that they are the ones responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls over financial reporting, as well as putting procedures in place to prevent and detect fraud. The standard management representation letter required to be given by the companies to the auditors has language something like this: We confirm that we are responsible for the fair presentation in the financial statements of financial position, results of operations, and cash flows in conformity with US GAAP. We also acknowledge our responsibility for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, including designing and implementing programs and controls to prevent and detect fraud.” But when things blow up, someone has to be held responsible, and Koss is pointing the finger at Grant Thornton. Here’s what I find so funny about the lawsuit: It goes through the fraudulent payments Sachdeva initiated in great detail , listing dates, payees, and amounts. The accusation being made is that if Grant Thornton had examined those checks and looked at the endorsements on the back of the checks, they would have immediately known Sachdeva was defrauding the company. Why is that so funny? Because Koss management could have (and should have) done exactly what they’re saying Grant Thornton should  have done. Talk about making yourselves look like absolute morons. Financial statement audits are very limited in scope. Companies may not like that fact, but it’s just the way it is. If companies want their auditors to find fraud, then they ought to hire the auditors to do more than the audit . As it stands, when you hire auditors to do audits, you have very little chance that they will find a fraud-in-progress. If  you want them to look for fraud, then you have to hire them for additional work. Contrary to what many may believe, the auditors don’t sit and go through canceled checks as part of their audit procedures. Their job is not to sit and go through every payment that passes through the bank account. That’s a different project with a different scope. Get over it. You should read my article at Daily Finance about this lawsuit. I point out some interesting contradictions in statements Koss made to the SEC and that they’re now making in their lawsuit. Maybe if the company had spent as much time and money on the management of their business as they will spend on this lawsuit, this all could have been avoided.

Original post:
Koss Fraud: We didn’t bother to look at the endorsements on our own checks, but Grant Thornton should have!

TopNews United Kingdom (blog) Whether financial reforms can really help remains to be seen Detroit Free Press Banking stocks did do well Friday on Wall Street after news that House and Senate negotiators had reached an early-dawn compromise on the overhaul bill. … Consumer Federation Applauds Financial Regulatory Reform Bill Connecticut Watchdog (blog) all 376 news articles

This package threatens to hurt banks’ shareholders without making the financial system any safer

See more here:
Bank reform

… U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, LexisNexis Mortgage Asset Research Institute, Fannie Mae, RealtyTrac, Inc., and Interthinx. …

Visit link:
Colorado a Top State for Mortgage Fraud Says FBI | Loans – Credit …

Reuters Wall Street -Friendly Democrat Undercuts Financial Reform, Attacks Average … Huffington Post (blog) The Senate conferees negotiating a final Wall Street reform bill approved a measure late Tuesday that purports to protect retail investors yet actually … Ex-banker Himes takes heat on derivatives reform provision The Connecticut Mirror Congress Puts Finishing Touches on Financial Reform TIME US House agrees to put consumer watchdog in Fed Reuters The Hill (blog)

Barbara Radnofsky wants Texas to sue Wall Street Dallas Morning News (blog) … the top players on Wall Street for helping cause the financial collapse. In a nutshell, Radnofsky contends that the companies are responsible for fraud , … and more

Dealmaking chemistry is back on the continent – two acquisitions in the chemicals sector, both mothballed by the financial crisis, are imminent

Read more:
European chemicals

Kansas City Star Congress and Wall St. Jockey to Put Finishing Touches on Financial Reform TIME Barney Frank addresses the House-Senate Conference Committee meeting on the ” Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” Congress, led by House Banking … US House agrees to put consumer watchdog in Fed Reuters Reforming Main Street Wall Street Journal all 384 news articles

The recent cancellation of so-called monoline insurance contracts on $16bn of collateralised debt obligations backed by subprime mortgages is raising the prospect of more turmoil for one of the most beleaguered corners of the financial markets.

View post:
More turmoil looms in CDO market

Protecting seniors from financial abuse Los Angeles Times The Elder Investment Fraud and Financial Exploitation project will train social workers and doctors to detect fraud against seniors who may be more … and more

Lenders trading complex instruments that were at the heart of the financial crisis are given extra time to adjust to new capital charges expected to make them more expensive to use

See more here:
Banks granted another year over derivatives

San Diego Con Man Faces Life in Prison for Land Patent Scams . SAN DIEGO (LoanSafe.org) – 62 year old Larry Smith was not your typical foreclosure rescue con man or white collar mortgage criminal. Most of the fraudsters being picked up … Video: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s impact on the financial crisis · Gibbs Gives Preview on Obama’s Afghanistan Speech. About Moe Bedard I am the founder of LoanSafe.org, LoanWorkout.org and CEO of MoeSeo Inc. My work has been featured …

Read the rest here:
San Diego Con Man Faces Life in Prison for Land Patent Scams …

What happens is that law enforcement will start cracking down on mortgage fraud and loan modifications scams . So, these creeps just move into a new area where law enforcement is not busting people. … Video: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s impact on the financial crisis · Veterans Protest More Troop Deployment to Afghanistan. About Moe Bedard I am the founder of LoanSafe.org, LoanWorkout.org and CEO of MoeSeo Inc. My work has been featured in the New York Times, LA Times, …

See more here:
Car Loan Modifications: Is this the new scam of the week? | Loans …

Six hundred small banks still hold $130 billion in unpaid TARP payments with taxpayers on the hook. Records show Over 90 Banks Miss their May TARP Payment. Statistics, compiled by SNL Financial from U.S. Treasury data, showed 91 banks and thrifts skipped the May dividend payment under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. It was the first missed payment for 23 of the banks; for the others, it was at least their second miss. The number of banks missing their TARP payments rose for the …

Read the original:
91 Banks Miss May TARP Payment, 68 Banks Miss Multiple Payments; Top 10 Sovereign Debt Default Risks; New "Merle Hazard" Song – "Legal Tender"

The head of MetLife, the largest life assurer in the US, has criticised the financial reforms being finalised by Congress, saying some measures betray a ‘total misunderstanding’ of the insurance industry and could hit the sector hard

Read the original:
MetLife chief slams US financial reforms

(From The Financial) — Anticipating greater emphasis on talent management and competition for key talent, employers are planning to reshape their talent programs as the economy shifts out of the recessionary period, according to the new Future of Talent Management survey from Mercer. The survey, conducted in May, includes responses from HR and talent management leaders at more than 400 organizations throughout the US. The survey included a broad cross-section of industries, with durable manufacturing, for-profit services, health care, financial/banking and high-tech/telecommunications organizations representing the largest segments. According to Mercer’s survey, more than half of employers surveyed indicate their organization has emerged from the recession and is in growth mode (15%) or is emerging from the recession and preparing for growth (37%); another 22% said they were never out of growth mode as their organization was not significantly affected by the economic downturn. One-quarter (25%) said they are still in recession mode. Moreover, most organizations are planning changes to their talent programs in response to the downturn, although they are at different stages in terms of identifying and implementing these changes. The majority plan to make changes to leadership training (88%), workforce training (85%), employee engagement (85%), recruiting (80%), retention (80%), rewards (76%) and performance management (76%) programs. More than two-thirds (68%) are planning to make changes to their career programs and just more than half (51%) are planning to make changes to mobility programs. Read more.

See the rest here:
Employers reshaping talent management programs as economy shifts toward growth

Fannie /Freddie mortgage scam and the financial crisis started when Obama was an Illinois state legislator. It started back in the 90′s when Graham/Leach/Bliley act was ratified. Goldman Sachs is interwoven with all administrations …

The rest is here:
Obama energy bill push straight out of Rahm playbook | The Daily …

Owner, Employees and Customers of California Mortgage Company Indicted for … PR Newswire (press release) This law enforcement action is part of the work being done by President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. … and more