CDO analyst files Sarbanes-Oxley complaint against Wachovia

The complaint relates to alleged improper attempts at Wachovia to influence and at times stop fixed income research reports, according to a statement released by Malecki Law in New York. It is also alleged that Wachovia's attempted influence was intended to coincide with firm’s deals and sales to its clients, as well as to please existing clients and potential clients.

The allegations detail attempts by Cifuentes to stop and report the conduct, as well as allege how the firm permitted analyst compensation to be directly or indirectly influenced and affected by recommendations made in the reports. As alleged in the complaint, Cifuentes' employment with Wachovia ended when he and the firm reached an impasse relating to the interpretation of what is required and what would be truthful when filing of a regulation analyst certification report – a statement by an analyst certifying that the views and recommendations in a research are his or her own and that their compensation is not directly or indirectly related to specific recommendations.

Cifuentes was a CDO fixed income research analyst at Wachovia, and was hired in July 2003 specifically to "to put Wachovia's research on the map", according to Malecki Law's statement.