A securities law firm is investigating the going-private transaction involving The Edelman Financial Group, a national wealth management firm, and its leadership, including Ric Edelman, for a possible breach of fiduciary duty in its sale to a private equity firm.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused an Illinois-based investment advisor with offering to sell fictitious securities on LinkedIn, the social networking site.

Raymond James & Associates and Raymond James Financial Services agreed to pay restitution of $1.69 million after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found it charged unfair and unreasonable commissions.

A Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer sued Goldman Sachs and its affiliates for allegedly selling the insurer more than $123 million in securities backed by poor-quality mortgages between 2006 and 2007.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered to “AA+” from “AAA” its long-term counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on the member companies of five U.S. insurance groups, following its lowering of the U.S.’s credit rating last week.

American International Group (AIG), the global insurer that at one point was 92% owned by the U.S. government after a $182 billion bailout, is taking legal action concerning billions of dollars it allegedly lost due to mortgage-related fraud.

A Richmond, Va., businessman, whose companies were barred from selling in Virginia for 120 days, pleaded guilty to participating in an investment scheme involving a handful of insurance companies.

A federal jury in Richmond, Va., convicted a Houston businessman for his role in a $100 million life-settlement fraud scheme that prosecutors say bilked more than 800 people in the U.S. and Canada.

The annuity industry ended last year on “strong and secure footing,” where variable annuity assets reached an all-time high and fourth quarter sales showed the highest levels of last year, a report showed.

An insurance agent in Florida is facing fraud charges and the possible seizure of nearly $1 million in commissions authorities say he illegally collected from the alleged illegal sale of up to $32 million in unregistered securities in the Tampa Bay area.