The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has expelled Sandlapper Securities, LLC, from the securities industry based on FINRA findings that the firm willfully defrauded investors by charging unreasonable and undisclosed markups on sales of fractional interests in saltwater disposal wells in violation of the Securities Exchange Act. The firm, along with its president and CEO, Jack Charles [...]
The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have announced settlements with Interactive Brokers related to anti-money laundering failures in which the registered broker-dealer agreed to pay penalties of $11.5 million, $15 million, and $11.5 million, respectively, for a total of $38 million in penalties [...]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has fined and sanctioned SagePoint Financial, Inc. for failing to supervise early rollovers in Unit Investment Trusts (“UITs”). A Unit Investment Trust ("UIT") is a SEC-registered investment company that offers investors shares or "units" in a fixed portfolio of securities in a one-time public offering. A UIT terminates on [...]
New Hampshire’s Bureau of Securities Regulation is investigating Merrill Lynch and one of its former top brokers following customer complaints that alleged misconduct which caused losses exceeding $100 million. Former New Hampshire governor Craig Benson is quoted by CNBC as claiming that Merrill Lynch stole from him, alleging losses of more than $50 million and [...]
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee has announced charges against former Raymond James financial advisor Frederick M. Stow, of Franklin, Tennessee. According to the charges, Stow stole $933,500 from two elderly clients including a 98-year-old WWII veteran. According to the charging documents, Stow became a registered representative for the WWII [...]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating two Marin County, California investment companies following the unexpected death of their owner, Ken Casey, in May. The investigation into Professional Financial Investors, Inc. ("PFI") and Professional Investors Securities Fund, Inc. ("PISF") is expected to take until at least late August and the companies have suspended all [...]
Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC, headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has been fined and censured by FINRA for failing to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system reasonably designed to review and monitor transfers of monies from customer accounts to third party accounts and outside entities. According to FINRA’s findings of fact, between September 2005 and [...]
Last month, investors filed a class action suit against blockchain software firm Block.one, alleging that the company defrauded investors through the sale of unregulated assets. Over the course of about a year, Block.one allegedly sold 900 million EOS cryptocurrency tokens during its initial coin offering, which netted over $4 billion for the company, but left [...]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has permanently barred Corpus Christi, Texas stockbroker Jesse Gil, III from the securities industry based on findings that Gil made unauthorized withdrawals from the account of an 82-year-old widow, to whom he was providing financial advice away from his employing firm, Allstate Financial Services, LLC. According to FINRA’s findings, [...]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has permanently barred Staten Island, New York stockbroker Louis Cook from the securities industry based on findings that he fraudulently induced his customers to give him access to withdraw funds and stole money from their accounts. According to FINRA’s findings, between August and December 2016, Mr. Cook sent letters [...]
Frankowski Firm attorney Robert Norton has been recognized by the American Trial Academy as a Top Tier Lawyer for 2020. The Top Tier Lawyer designation is an invitation-only recognition extended to only 2% of attorneys in the United States each year. The American Trial Academy reviews criteria to select attorneys who exemplify superior qualifications, results, [...]
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged West Virginia-based registered representative Phillip Conley with securities fraud. According to the SEC charges, Mr. Conley made fraudulent securities offerings raising $5.2 million from at least 20 investors. According to the allegations, between January 2014 and September 2018, Conley convinced investors, including pastors and church congregants, to invest [...]
The Frankowski Firm has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) arbitration claim on behalf of two clients who claim they were the victims of fraud and neglect at the hands of Dennis Phillip Ayre and his then-employers Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. and Penguin Capital Management in the Los Angeles / Beverly Hills, California area. [...]
Crude oil prices fell into negative territory this week for the first time in history. The negative pricing means that an investor with a long position in oil would have to pay someone to take their oil investment off their hands. The historic drop has sent shockwaves through the market. The New York Mercantile Exchange [...]
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has issued an alert cautioning small business owners who apply for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to guard themselves against predatory and fraudulent tactics from bad actors looking to take advantage of vulnerable borrowers. According to the alert, these bad actors are actively seeking to lure small business owners to [...]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has barred former First Standard Financial, LLC representative Michael Leahy of Red Bank, New Jersey, based on FINRA’s findings that Leahy was aware of red flags of his subordinate broker’s misconduct, but failed to investigate or take any action to curtail the misconduct. FINRA found that from September 18, [...]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has barred former First Standard Financial, LLC representative Robert F. Spiegel based on FINRA’s findings that Spiegel engaged in an unsuitably high-volume of trading in the account of one of his elderly clients. FINRA found that from October 2016 to December 2017, Spiegel recommended to his customer, a 70-year [...]
The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined Wells Fargo Advisors $35 million for unsuitable sales of complex single-inverse Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to customers without the investment experience or risk tolerance to make such trades. The type of ETF at issue is designed for short-term trading, typically a day, by betting against an index. If [...]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has fined and censured Chelsea Financial Services, of Staten Island, New York. FINRA found that, from January 2016 through July 2018, Chelsea Financial failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system and written supervisory procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with FINRA’s rules related to suitability and excessive trading. [...]
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has permanently barred McNally Financial Services Corporation representative Dennis Masaaki Nakamura from the securities industry based on his refusal to give testimony during FINRA’s investigation into allegations that he made unsuitable investment recommendations to his customers. The ban follows a customer’s allegation in November 2019 that Nakamura caused financial [...]
