Oppenheimer & Co, a New York investment bank, has been charged with “fraud and unethical conduct” over the sale of auction-rate securities to clients, reports P&I News.

The charge has been brought by the Massachusetts’ Secretary of the Commonwealth, William F Galvin. The bank allegedly sold ARS as a cash equivalent but did not inform clients of the risks involved, even as some Oppenheimer executives allegedly sold their own ARS holdings before the market froze in February.

This resulted in the clients not being able to access almost $56 million of their money. The bank, which has 21 days to respond to the complaint, has denied the charge and claimed it was working towards obtaining liquidity for the clients in their holdings.

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