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Massachusetts: Second $$Mn Settlement in Week

August 15, 2011

One week after agreeing to a $10 million settlement with H&R Block, (WHO-8/9 post), Massachusetts Secretary William Galvin fined Credit Suisse nearly $1mn.  The state had charged Credit Suisse with improper marketing and sales of auction-rate securities. 

Alleged violations were brought to regulators' attention in 2008 when investors complained they couldn't get their funds out of these supposedly liquid investments.  That's the time when the ARS auction markets dried up, because broker-dealers stopped buying up securities that went unsold in the ARS auctions. 

As part of the $998,480 fine, Credit Suisse agreed to buy back ARS's from Massachusetts investors.  The bank said the announcement is a formalization of the settlement and doesn't involve new penalties or obligations.  With this settlement, MA will have received $17mn from financial firms in cases involving ARS's. 

Previously, Credit Suisse entered a settlement with paid Texas - agreeing to pay $1.4mn - for its role in the auction-rate securities market.   [WSJournal, 8/13/11]