
Thornapple provides expert witness services without predisposition toward either Claimant/Plaintiff or Respondent/Defendant. Any reservations as to the merits of a Client’s case are always conveyed to the Client and/or Counsel as a basis of evaluating both the advisability and basis of proceeding with trial or arbitration, and/or as a basis for determining potentially acceptable terms for mediation or settlement of the dispute.
Clientele:
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- Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.)
- Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.)
- State Banking/Insurance/Securities Commissioners & Attorney General
- Bankruptcy Trustees
- Individual investors: foreign and U.S.
- Broker-dealer firms
- Corporations & LLC’s: both foreign and U.S.
- Trusts and Estates
- Beneficiaries, Heirs, Successor Trustees
- Banks and Savings & Loans
- Insurance companies: foreign and U.S.
- Municipal Retirement Funds
- ERISA pension & profit-sharing plans
- Investment Advisors and Hedge Funds
- Exchange Market-makers
- Religious & charitable organizations
Issues in Dispute:
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- Suitability
- Churning
- Misrepresentations
- Adequacy of risk disclosure
- Unauthorized trading
- Prime broker and other clearing arrangements
- Failure to supervise
- Abuse of discretion: formal and de facto
- Fiduciary obligations of investment advisors/broker-dealers
- Fiduciary matters involving trusts and estates
- Portfolio management – including tax considerations
- Trading out of approved strategies/guidelines
- Options trading, strategies, “programs” and abuse
- Reg. T, maintenance and porfolio margin
- Reg. 9, account opening documents, annual review documents
- Risk-arbitrage
- Fixed income arbitrage – municipal and corporate
- Market manipulation
- Trade allocation and Ponzi schemes – stock, options & futures
- Futures hedge/speculative margin determination
- Broker-dealer operations and supervision
- Derivative securities valuation
- Failure to execute
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Investment Instruments Covered:
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- Exchange listed options on stocks and stock indices
- Options on financial futures and foreign currencies
- Exchange-listed & over-the-counter (OTC) stocks
- Preferred stocks – fixed, adjustable, variable, auction – U.S. and foreign
- Stock subject to Rule 144 and/or lock-up agreements
- Warrants, ISO’s and Unregistered Options
- OTC “designer” options : digital (binary), kick-out (ratchet, knock-out)
- Convertible Securities – bonds and preferred stock
- Foreign Currencies: future, options and forward contracts, ISDA Swap agreements
- Corporate and Government Bonds
- Municipal Bonds and municipal bond arbitrage
- Auction and remarketed Debt and Preferred Securities
- Futures/Forward contracts – to include inter-bank forward currency contracts
- OTC Collars, “Liquidity” Contracts, Prepaid Cash Forward Contracts
- Limited Partnerships
- Collateralized Mortgage Obligations (CMOs), CDOs
- Commodities futures and options
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Testimonial Forums:
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- FINRA Arbitration
- New York Stock Exchange Arbitration
- American Stock Exchange Arbitration
- Chicago Board Options Exchange Arbitration
- National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Arbitration
- American Arbitration Association (AAA)
- JAMS (Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services)
- National Futures Association
- New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)
- United States Federal Court
- United States Federal Bankruptcy Court
- United States Tax Court
- State Courts
- S.E.C. Administrative Proceedings
- NASD Disciplinary Hearing
- New York Stock Exchange Disciplinary Hearing
- Canadian Provincial Court