The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. Announces: Kazma MAT/ASTA Award is Subject of a Front Page Wall Street Journal Story
BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 8, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent front-page Wall Street Journal article entitled "Citi Debt Funds Probed by SEC," which concerns Citi's disastrous MAT/ASTA municipal arbitrage fund, features a highly significant $1.8 million award issued against Citigroup in a MAT/ASTA case by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel.
The case is Gerald J. Kazma Revocable Trust and Amzak Capital Management, LLC vs. Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. f/k/a Citigroup Investment Services, and Citigroup Alternative Investments, LLC, Case No. 09-02697. The Kazma family was represented by Robert Pearce of Boca Raton, Florida. Mr. Pearce attributes his success in the Kazma arbitration to an intensive two year investigation and access to millions of pages of documents produced by Citigroup to the SEC in the probe.
The WSJ reported:
In Miami, Gerald Kazma, a retired cable-TV system developer, invested $4 million in MAT funds in early 2006. According to an arbitration claim he later filed, a Citigroup private banker had told him the return and risk were "slightly greater" than a typical municipal-bond portfolio. Citigroup told the securities-industry arbitration panel the funds' risks were disclosed to Mr. Kazma.
The panel this year awarded Mr. Kazma $1.8 million, two-thirds of his loss, citing "negligent management and negligent supervision" by Citigroup. Three other investors have won a total of $2.1 million from Citigroup in arbitrations this year.
The Kazma case is significant because the arbitrators found that Citigroup and Citigroup Alternative Investments, LLC negligently mismanaged the MAT/ASTA funds and negligently supervised their employees. Because Citigroup's mismanagement of MAT/ASTA began during 2006 through 2007 and continued through early 2008, even early investors in the funds are now eligible to pursue their claims.
The impact of the decision is that it greatly expands the number of potential clients who can pursue valid claims against Citigroup and its affiliates. The Kazma award also strongly suggests that any MAT/ASTA investor, even a Citigroup employee who had no involvement with the funds, can file a claim for negligent management and may well recover his losses.
Mr. Pearce along with Page Perry law firm in Atlanta, Georgia are prosecuting many other MAT/ASTA fund cases and accepting new clients.
SOURCE The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A.
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