Forensic Financial and Economic Consultants Articles
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September 11, 2009
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A significant amount of action has been taken to help investors who found themselves unable to sell their Auction Rate Securities holdings.
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January 26, 2009
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The accelerated securitization of mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and other mortgage-related assets has created some of the most significant problems of the ongoing economic crisis. When investment banks and other financial institutions pooled numerous different assets, including highly risky sub-prime and Alt-A mortgages, and used them as collateral to create new, securitized financial assets, these assets eventually devalued to such a degree that they became so-called “toxic assets.”
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January 2009
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The SEC recently completed a study of fair value accounting including SFAS 157 as mandated by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The SEC decided not to suspend use of SFAS 157, but rather suggested improvements to the application of SFAS 157. This article summarizes the purpose and application of SFAS 157 as well as the current positions of the FASB and the SEC.
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December 29, 2008
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On February 13, 2008, the estimated $350 billion auction rate securities market collapsed. The collapse left investors unable to liquidate an investment that most had originally chosen based upon its characterization as highly liquid, short-term, safe, and as a cash-equivalent
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October 29, 2008
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders have seen the value of their holdings plummet to a few pennies on the dollar and are looking for ways to recover some of their losses including through litigation.
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October 27, 2008
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The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued SFAS 5, Accounting for Contingencies, in March 1975 to address accounting for loss contingencies including potential losses from pending or threatened litigation. Recently, certain constituents expressed concerns that disclosures under SFAS 5 do not provide sufficient guidance and transparency as to the likelihood, timing and amounts of cash flows associated with loss contingencies.
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September 2008
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Pratt's Journal of Bankruptcy Law
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2008
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First Focus: A Subprime Crisis, a Thomson-West Report
Lawsuits claiming that minorities have been the recipients of a disproportionate share of subprime mortgages have been fueled by recent data that mortgage bankers made public. This trend is likely to continue, as the lending practices of other banks and lending institutions are scrutinized, and other municipalities attempt to recoup the loss of tax revenue and other costs association with the growing number of foreclosures.
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February 2, 2006
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Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.
All securities litigation cases are not created equal. When securities litigation is segregated into different categories, it is clear that there are specific instances in which institutional investors should pursue litigation to recover assets.
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