A San Fernando Valley law firm has created a special task force to advocate for victims of the auction-rate securities crisis, which has made investments that were billed as being "as good as cash," in terms of liquidity, now virtually illiquid.
While not exactly the millionaires' mortgage meltdown, the $330 billion ARS debacle bears some parallels to that more middle-class financial crisis. The most significant similarity is the assertion that investment brokers obscured the risks of such securities, as did some mortgage brokers with variable-rate home loans.
"These are securities that allowed either individuals or businesses to invest at rates of return, on a ...