HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – Off-shore hedge fund law firm, Sadis & Goldberg LLP, sent out a letter to their clients announcing that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears determined to issue more subpoenas and give people more incentives to cooperate with investigations as it works to enhance its oversight of the financial markets.
 
The letter, obtained by HedgeCo, explains, ”Don’t be surprised if you receive a subpoena or are contacted by the SEC.” Daniel G. Viola, spokesperson for Sadis & Goldberg, said, ”The SEC has significantly increased its enforcement efforts since the recent discovery of certain high profile Ponzi schemes.”

Effective August 11, 2009, the SEC has also made it easier for its staff attorneys to issue subpoenas. Thus, the SEC staff attorneys will no longer have to obtain formal approvals to issue subpoenas; instead, they will simply need approval from their senior supervisor.

”If you receive an inquiry letter or subpoena from the SEC, remain calm, ”Viola said, ”This is not uncommon given the current regulatory climate. Above all, do not respond without first contacting legal counsel.”
 
The The SEC generally has broad powers to conduct investigations of potential violations of the federal securities laws and often works with the Department of Justice in connection with joint proceedings, often known as ”parallel proceedings.”

The law firms Regulatory Practice Group consists of former SEC personnel and litigators with experience regarding civil and criminal proceedings.

Contact info:
Daniel G. Viola at 212.573.8038 (or dviola@sglawyers.com)
Christiaan Johnson-Green at 212.573.8169 (or cjohnson-green@sglawyers.com)

Alex Akesson

Editor for HedgeCo.net

alex@hedgeco.net

HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!

Tags: accredited-investors, criminal proceedings, enforcement efforts, federal securities laws, hedge fund, hedge funds, inquiry letter, legal counsel, litigators, palm-beach, practice group, quot, regulatory climate, regulatory practice, sec staff, securities-and-exchange-commission, staff attorneys, subpoena, subpoenas, west palm beach

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – OppenheimerFunds, Inc. and OppenheimerFunds Distributor, Inc. is being investigated by US law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro for alleged violations of federal securities laws among other things on behalf of investors in the Core Bond Fund.

The "low-risk, conservative bond fund" that invested mainly in high-quality corporate bonds, is alleged to have started acting "like a hedge fund" taking extreme risks including selling risky credit default swaps and other high-risk derivative investments to Wall Street firms.

The Core Bond Fund suffered losses of more than 35% of its value in 2008 and continued to fall another 10% in the first three months of 2009. The Oppenheimer Champion income fund lost more than 80% of the its value, dropping almost $2 billion over the course of 15 months as a result of similar risky investments and deviations from the stated fund investment policy.

Hagens Berman is investigating whether officers and directors of the Core Bond Fund misled investors about the safety of the fund and whether they failed to adequately warn investors when the fund took extreme risks in violation of the Fund’s stated investment policy.

Alex Akesson

Tags: accredited-investors, bond fund, core bond, corporate bonds, credit default swaps, derivative investments, extreme risks, federal securities laws, first-three-months, hagens berman, hedgeco, investment-policy, oppenheimer, oppenheimerfunds inc, palm-beach, risky-investments, sobol