Reports: Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns May Have Ignored Ample Warnings of Looming Housing Meltdown Years Before Mortgage-Backed Securities Ignited the Financial Crisis

New York, NY (PRWEB) June 17, 2009

Long before their respective employers ceased to exist as independent companies, former Merrill Lynch Top North American Economist David A. Rosenberg and former Bear Stearns Chief Equities Investment Strategist Francois Trahan published research reports with explicit warnings about asset and credit bubbles in the U.S. housing and mortgage markets.

As early as August 2004, Mr. Rosenberg, Chief Economist at Merrill Lynch for North America, published a detailed analysis regarding the precarious state of the American housing market. Rosenberg warned that there could serious problems ahead in an Economic Commentary entitled: “Housing: If not a Bubble Then an Oversized Sud.”

Former Bear Stearns Chief Equities Investment Strategist Francois Trahan first published a report that raised serious questions about housing and real estate investments in a May 2005 report called “REIT all About it.” Trahan and his team at Bear Stearns followed their 2005 report with publications in 2006 that explicitly warned about the difficult future facing the U.S. housing market and even raised the possibility of a global credit crisis. The 2006 Bear Stearns reports definitively described the housing market as an unsustainable “bubble” and further cautioned that the term bubble was not one the Bear team used lightly.

It was not until 2008 that overcommitments to mortgage-backed securities (a byproduct of the housing boom), CDO’s and related products tied to residential and commercial mortgages caused Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns to suffer backbreaking losses so severe that Merrill sold itself to Bank of America and Bear Stearns narrowly avoided bankruptcy with a Fed-assisted fire sale to JP Morgan.

–Background

Along with a number of other Wall Street firms, Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns lost tens of billions of dollars because of their firms’ respective commitments to securities backed by mortgages in the “subprime” and “Alt-A” categories. Subprime and Alt-A residential mortgages are considered risky loans because they carry higher default rates than “conforming” mortgages (also called prime mortgages, or agency-quality mortgages). Typical subprime or Alt-A borrowers cannot qualify for a conforming mortgage due to factors that include, but are not limited to, bad credit histories, personal bankruptcies, insufficient income, and the inability to make sufficiently large down-payments.

–Significance of the Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns reports

While the ultimate import of the reports remains to be seen, The Sherman Law Firm, The Sherman Law Firm says there is no doubt that the documents are crucial to the touchstone litigation element of foreseeability. “In a litigation sense,” said Managing Attorney Brett Sherman, “the question of foreseeability asks at what point in time senior management at these investment banks should have foreseen the possibility of the disasters that eventually befell them.”

According to The Sherman Law Firm, the reports at issue may show that senior management at Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns should have foreseen the liklihood of a looming financial crisis with ample time to permit business model shifts that may have prevented crippling losses and, ultimately, the end of these former pillars of Wall Street as independent companies.    

–Likely Defenses and Response

When confronted with documents like the reports at issue, senior managers may respond that they cannot be expected to read the huge volumes of research produced by their companies. The view of Brett Sherman, Managing Attorney of The Sherman Law Firm is that “the significance of these reports is that they conclusively establish the views of top economic analysts at Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. Whether plaintiffs’ attorneys prove that senior management at the two investment banks actually read the reports ought to be immaterial.”

Litigation strategist and recently retired attorney Lee Sherman – a frequent consultant to The Sherman Law Firm, former municipal court judge, and founding partner of a top Philadelphia area firm – concurred. “These aren’t simply the comments of some junior level analysts,” Sherman said. “I mean, we’re talking about the Senior North American Economist of Merrill Lynch and the Chief Equities Strategist at Bear Stearns. Any claims by their CEOs and the other senior decision makers at these banks to the effect that they should not have been well-aware of the opinions and outlooks of the top economic and market experts at their companies are simply not credible.

Lee Sherman continued: “Remember, from mid-2004 until the subprime crisis had clearly arrived, the Fed steadily raised interest rates. For lesser quality borrowers, most of whom had adjustable rate mortgages, higher interest rates meant higher default rates. To say the least, there was great uncertainty as rates were rising about where we were headed. Then, the housing market slowed. I’m talking about 2005 now, before home values really fell off the table. It strikes me as incredible that the kinds of warnings in these reports were out there for years, yet seem to have gone unheeded.”

The Sherman Law Firm represents investors in securities fraud / investment loss claims of all types, including claims against investment banks for losses related to mismanagement and other misconduct during the housing and credit bubbles.

–Disclaimer

This release is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this release is intended to be, or should be construed as, legal advice.

The Sherman Law Firm represents investors in securities fraud claims.

For further information, please click here to complete and submit The Sherman Law Firm’s E-FORM, contact:

Brett Sherman

THE SHERMAN LAW FIRM;

(201) 723-9470

or, to see our commentaries and in-depth analysis of the financial crisis, please visit:

The Wall Street Law Blog

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More Fraud Claims Press Releases

(PRWEB) April 29, 2005

Advanced Judgment Solutions is a company dedicated to the enforcement of judicial judgments. We enforce your judgment, in its entirety, usually on a ‘future pay’ basis, without application fees or up-front costs of any kind. We advance all the costs and expenses incurred in locating the judgment debtor and enforcing the judgment. We make our money only from the judgment debtor, at no direct cost to you.

The fact is – almost 80% of all judgments are never recovered. Your judgment may have been awarded by the court but enforcement is your responsibility. Advanced Judgment Solutions can succeed when you can’t.

We have the resources, expertise, and determination to enforce the judgment you worked so hard to get. We will conduct a thorough investigation to uncover any assets or sources of income, and take whatever steps are necessary to legally seize them.

If you have a valid court awarded judgment of ,000 or more, we will use every method at our disposal to recover the full amount of the unpaid judgment plus any interest that the judgment has accrued since it was issued. We will track the judgment debtor down even if he or she has moved to another state. We have access to both private and public databases that allows us to ‘skip-trace’ the debtor and to locate any assets that he or she may have. As allowed by law, we will garnish wages, attach bank accounts, and seize assets as necessary. If possible, we will try to do so without any notification or confrontation. In short, we will enforce the judgment that was legally and rightfully awarded to you by the courts.

We neither charge an application fee nor require you to cover any upfront expenses. We purchase the judgment from you for a percentage of anything that we are eventually able to recover from the judgment debtor. All expenses and legal costs incurred in the enforcement of your judgment are advanced by us. There is never an up-front charge of any kind! We are currently accepting judgments awarded in all states.

To get the ball rolling, please visit our website and complete the short application. We will review your case and arrange a telephone consultation with you as quickly as possible. There is absolutely no obligation on your part. Isn’t it time justice was served?

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890 N. 11th Street

Beaumont, Texas 77702

409-291-0542

www.AdvancedJudgmentSolutions.com


RichardTaylor@Judgmentpros.net

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IROs Will Help Keep Costs in Line Under Any Future Healthcare Scenario

Westerville, Ohio (PRWEB) November 20, 2009

As Congress shapes the current draft of national healthcare reform legislation, government leaders continue debating whether its funding should be private, public or a mix of both. Regardless of the outcome of the legislation, a need still exists for independent review organizations (IROs) to ensure covered treatments are medically necessary and appropriate, says NAIRO, a national association of IROs.

“No matter the shape of healthcare reform, IROs will continue to provide the checks and balances that make sure payers cover the care that was contracted for and patients get the medical care to which they are entitled,” said Seana Ferris, President of NAIRO.

Playing an Objective Role

IROs are impartial third parties that play an important role in healthcare, because they deliver determinations based on standardized medical necessity guidelines, expert determinations or objective medical evidence. Their unbiased approach helps preserve both the quality and integrity of our healthcare system. For that reason, state legislators in 45 states plus the District of Columbia have mandated that IROs review healthcare appeals, Ferris pointed out.

Working with Diverse Groups

IROs work with a broad range of both payer and healthcare provider organizations, Ferris explained. On the payer side, IROs provide services to health plans, reinsurers, third-party administrators (TPAs), medical management organizations, benefit managers and insurance carriers. On the provider side, they work with hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). For all these organizations, IROs provide unbiased and evidence-based determinations for health insurance claims, disability and fraud claims, drug utilization reviews, preauthorization reviews, reviews of patient claims and reviews of physician performance. The medical review determinations IROs provide are critical to the proper execution of payer and patient claim and appeal processes, as well as ensuring the appropriate delivery of health care. Because objective determinations from IROs may improve a provider’s relations with plan subscribers, payers often engage IROs to review denials of coverage for healthcare services in an effort to ensure their decision reflects the current medical standard of care.

Saving Payers and Patients

A March 2009 study, “Health Care Costs: A Primer,” reported that during 2007, the U.S. spent .2 trillion on health care — an average of ,421 a person. Without IROs as a way to help control these rising healthcare expenses, this figure could well have been higher, Ferris noted. IROs have proven protocols in place to help contain these costs. “NAIRO member surveys show that for every dollar a health insurer spends on medical reviews, it saves at least by eliminating unnecessary treatments,” she said. On the other hand, IROs play a critical role in upholding the rights of healthcare consumers, by ensuring they receive the benefits which are medically necessary and which are covered by their health plan.

Whatever comes out of the new healthcare legislation, IROs will continue to assure healthcare cost containment, as well as appropriate delivery of care. “With limited resources, we must look at the costs of any future healthcare scenarios,” Ferris said. “Regardless of the many potential scenarios, our industry demonstrates an outstanding return on investment today, and it stands ready to do so under any new healthcare legislation.”

About NAIRO

NAIRO works to promote the value and integrity of the independent medical review process. Its members embrace an independent, evidence-based approach to medical review for resolving coverage disputes between enrollees and their health plans. For more information, visit http://www.nairo.org.

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Wilton, CT (PRWEB) November 8, 2009

Continuing its expansion into value-added insurance claim recovery services and specialty risk consulting, Dempsey Partners LLC today announced that J. Hunter Williams, J. Christopher Dineen, and Todd Gillman joined the firm as Managing Directors. Williams will head the firm’s Atlanta, GA office, while Dineen and Gillman will co-manage the firm’s Chicago office.

“We are fortunate that these three accomplished professionals have joined the Dempsey Partners team,” said John D. Dempsey, Managing Partner of the Wilton, CT-based firm. “Each brings a wealth of experience, technical ability, and depth to our growing claims recovery and valuation practices. We are confident that their skills will help our clients achieve successful outcomes for the most challenging first-party and liability claims.” http://www.dempsey-partners.com/

Williams, a Certified Public Accountant, has extensive experience providing business interruption and property damage claims consulting services to firms in the transportation and delivery, general aviation, manufacturing, hospitality, real estate, and mining industries, as well as specialty industries such as fisheries and apiaries. In addition, he assists in the resolution of large product liability and class action cases. This assistance includes calculating damages as well as formulating resolution strategies. Williams is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Dineen, a Professional Engineer and CPCU, has extensive experience in the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean and the Asia/Pacific region. He specializes in the evaluation, analysis and preparation of large and complex insurance claims, including property, business interruption, fidelity, product recall, product liability, and construction. He also conducts pre-loss business interruption and supply chain exposure studies, white-collar crime investigations, and provides litigation support services including expert witness testimony. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois, College of Engineering.

Gillman, a CPA, specializes in the investigation and quantification of insurance claims arising from property, business interruption, product liability, product recall, and other commercial losses. He works on behalf of corporate risk managers in the agricultural, healthcare, retail, financial services, and manufacturing industries. He also performs business interruption exposure value quantification studies involving direct and indirect supply chain risks. Todd is a graduate of the University of Illinois, holding a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting.

Dempsey Partners offers a diverse range of services to corporate risk managers. In addition to property damage and business interruption claims consulting, the company offers MegaLoss Disaster Recovery (DR) services; X-V Analysis®, a proprietary business interruption exposure valuation methodology; Forensic Analysis services devoted to occupational fraud claims; and a broad range of risk consulting services intended to minimize the cost of risk.

About Dempsey Partners:

Dempsey Partners supports the global risk management community with claims, forensic accounting, risk consulting, and insurance-related valuation services. Based in Wilton, CT, the company serves its clientele from ten full-service offices across the United States.

Contact:

John D. Dempsey, CPA, CFE

Dempsey Partners LLC

203-762-5052

www.dempsey-partners.com

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Tulsa, Okla. (PRWEB) April 16, 2008

When court documents and summons need to be delivered in a timely manner, most lawyers turn to process servers. Unfortunately, choosing the wrong process server can hold up the entire legal process, leading to added court costs and an inflated bill for clients. They could even be sending a criminal to the doors of unsuspecting citizens.

For example, in Denver, Colo., a state process server turned out to be a registered sex offender. The man had pleaded guilty in 2002 for molesting two boys in 1993, but was delivering subpoenas for the state of Colorado as recently as November 2007.

Scott Malan of Malan Investigations (http://www.malanprocessservice.com/) offers tips for lawyers on how to find process servers who will get the job done correctly.

One of the first things Malan recommends is finding somebody who belongs to a nationally recognized association.

“You want a licensed process server who’s bonded, belongs to a professional organization, and does the job full-time,” Malan said. “That’s the only way you’ll get the best service.”

Most nationally recognized associations require at least two years of experience and three recommendations from judges, lawyers and other members before they’ll allow a process server to become part of the association. These associations have bylaws and rules of ethical conduct for its members.

“Twenty-five percent of the process servers in Oklahoma work full time, and maybe 10 percent of those belong to a national organization,” Malan said.

Choosing a full-time process server also ensures your documents will be delivered on time.

“A lot of people take up process serving as a second job to make some extra money nights and weekends,” Malan said. “Unfortunately, you can’t always serve people at night and on weekends.”

Skip tracing is another important thing to consider when looking for a process server. If that person has moved or gone into hiding, process servers need to be able to track them down.

Another thing Malan says to consider is response time. Process servers should respond to client inquiries quickly. Clients should know their court documents are being served in a timely manner. If problems arise, they should expect to be notified.

“Time is money, and both are valuable,” said Malan. “You deserve to be kept up-to-date on the status of the papers the servers are handling. If you’re not currently receiving these services, then your process server is not helping you spend your time and money wisely.”

Malan also suggests finding a process server that doesn’t try to hide the final cost of serving papers. Some process servers may not count expenses like mileage in their initial pricing, which can put the client in quite a bind when the bill comes.

“They shouldn’t be trying to hide any extra costs in there,” said Malan. “Ask them upfront if the price they’ve given you includes mileage. The price you hear initially should be the price you pay at the end.”

For more information about process serving, visit Malan Investigations online at http://www.malanprocessservice.com/

About Malan Investigations

Malan Investigations is a private investigative and professional process service agency based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Malan Investigations was established in 2001 by Scott Malan, a retired Master Sergeant in the United States Army. Malan Investigations is fully bonded, insured, and licensed by the state of Oklahoma. Their services include private investigations, professional process service, personal protective services (executive level protection / body guard), skip tracing and background/pre-employment checks. Malan Investigations is a proud member of the Oklahoma Private Investigators Association (O.P.I.A); National Association of Professional Process Servers (N.A.P.P.S) and Servenow.com

Press release provided by Xeal Inc. (http://www.xeal.com)

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