A Venezuelan financier, Francisco Illarramendi, "was sentenced on Thursday to 13 years in prison for running what US prosecutors called a Ponzi scheme in Connecticut that caused $382.2 million of losses, including for Venezuela's state-owned oil company," reports Jonathan Stempel.
Illarramendi's lawyer told Reuters that the sentence was "calculated incorrectly, and that most of the losses 'have been or can easily be' recouped," according to Stempel.
"Our wholehearted intention is to appeal the sentence," he said. "While the government has hailed it as the biggest Ponzi scheme in Connecticut's history, it is the only alleged Ponzi scheme in the universe with a surplus."
Greece is looking at 'long and painful' negotiations ahead (Charles Schwab)
"If the new government goes too far and is inflexible in the negotiations, Greece would run the risk of being expelled from the currency union, something that most Greeks oppose. Yet it is equally clear that European authorities cannot simply reward voters for favoring an anti-austerity party, for fear of fuelling support for similar parties such as Podemos in Spain. Therefore, a difficult period lies ahead," writes Liz Ann Sonders, Brad Sorensen, and Jeffrey Kleintop.
"We expect that in the end, European officials are willing to offer Greece an extension on the maturity of its debt, a reduction in interest rates, and more flexibility on reforms. We see only a small risk that this ends with a Greek exit from the Eurozone," they add.
Seismic political changes in Asia are making small companies look incredibly attractive for investors (Advisor Perspectives)
"At Templeton Emerging Markets Group, we believe Asia's combination of rapid economic growth, generally strong national finances and economic fundamentals has created an attractive landscape for equity investors," writes the Franklin Templeton Investments team.
"Seismic changes have been taking place in Asia's political arena over the past couple of years, including major elections, leadership transitions and even a military coup. These political shifts have economic reform implications as well. ... In particular, smaller companies in emerging markets appears poised to potentially benefit amid more market-friendly reforms that break down barriers to entry and inspire entrepreneurship," they add.
Advisors must keep up with robo-advisors or die (Financial Advisor Magazine)
Noted financial advisor Ric Edelman "stung like a bee with his blunt assessments of the potentially devastating impact robo-advisors could have on the existing advisor model, and how advisors must keep up with technology or die," at the Inside ETFs conference in Hollywood, Florida, reports Jeff Schlegel.
"It doesn't matter who the players are; we can't stop it," Edelman said. "We're either going to acknowledge it and participate by providing our own clients with the same types of services, or we're going to get crushed."
TD Ameritrade CEO: cybersecurity keeps me up at night (Think Advisor)
TD Ametride CEO Fred Tomcyzk participated in a "fireside chat" with CNBC's Mandy Drury on Thursday morning, when he spoke about the things that keep him up at night: namely, technology, cybersecurity and fixed income, reports James J. Green.
"There are technology trends that are long term and disruptive," he said, including big data and social media, which are "reshaping the ways that all businesses," including his own advisors', produce and market their products and services.
He had a thing to say about oil: It's "not obvious that we've hit bottom."