Was is the New York Attorney General suing brokerage firm Charles Schwab?
NEW YORK, Aug. 17 — New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo sued the brokerage firm Charles Schwab on Monday, charging that it misled investors about the risks of unconventional bonds called auction-rate securities. The San Francisco-based firm, Cuomo said, repeatedly told customers that the auction-rate securities — used by hospitals, local governments and schools to raise funds — carried similar risks as money market funds or certificates of deposit and that investors would be able to retrieve their cash whenever they wanted. “Charles Schwab owed its customers a duty to properly understand and make accurate representations concerning auction rate securities,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Today we commenced a lawsuit to remedy Schwab’s repeated breach of that duty. This filing should send a signal that anyone in the industry who misrepresented the risks of investing in auction rate securities will be held accountable.” Auction-rate securities had been considered a higher-yielding
