A recent order issued by the Federal Court trying the NPS civil suit referenced a mirror trust employed by the defendant bank (12-31-14 Order – Comerica MSJ ).  To facilitate the trading of investment securities, a brokerage account is established with a firm that can administer the transactions more efficiently than the fiduciary institution.   

It is common for master preneed trusts to have investments directed by an independent fund manager.  The pooling of smaller trusts allows funeral directors to achieve the critical mass needed to engage professional asset management.  When investment functions are delegated, the trustee typically wants to be relieved of the supervision and liabilities that accompany those

In August, litigants to the NPS civil trial were required to file expert opinion reports with the court.  Initially, there were essentially 8 defendant banks, and most had retained one or more experts to testify at trial.  As a consequence, a plethora of expert reports were filed with the court.  Many of the experts offered

Our prior blog post discussed the NPS Special Deputy Receiver’s motion for a ruling on two crucial legal issues.  Doug Cassity was appalled that the SDR would attempt such an unbelievable slight of hand on the Federal court, and filed his own response.  According to Mr. Cassity, the SDR has cited the court to the

In anticipation of a February trial date, a group from the fiduciary bank defendants has filed a motion for summary judgment in the Federal court that will try the NPS civil lawsuit.  The intent of the summary judgment request is to narrow the scope of claims made by the Special Deputy Receiver.  The pleadings filed