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3 States Order Elder Financial Abuse Reporting

As of today, laws in Alabama, Indiana, and Vermont require financial advisers to report suspected financial abuse of the elderly and other vulnerable adults to state officials. These states' legislatures approved the bills earlier this year. And their governors signed the bills into law, putting these states at the forefront of protecting against elder financial abuse. The new laws also permit advisors to cease the disbursement of funds from client accounts and give advisers immunity from civil liability, in addition to requiring reporting of situations involving people who are older than 65 or are disabled. Louisiana passed a similar law this month. It will go into effect on January 1 of next year. Each of the new laws is based on a model rule approved earlier this year by the North American Securities Administrators Associations Inc., which is made of state regulators and made protecting against elder financial abuse a priority. “This law will help our investment advisers and brokers [...]

By |July 1st, 2016|FINRA, Fraud, Press Releases & News, SEC|
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SEC Bans MA Brokerage Firm Owner From Industry

The SEC has banned Massachusetts resident Lee Weiss from the brokerage and investment advisory industry for a fraudulent scheme pertaining to a French company that claimed it could reduce the harmful effects of tobacco smoking. Weiss, of Newton, Massachusetts, and his firm, Family Endowment Partners LLC, will pay roughly $8.4 million in relief to investors he conned, according to the SEC. They will also pay a combined civil penalty of $1.5 million. The Commission claims that between 2010 and 2012 Weiss and the firm fraudulently advised clients and hedge funds to invest over $40 million in securities issued by companies owned by Biosyntec, which claimed to have developed a cigarette filter that reduced the risk of lung cancer. Weiss also held shares in the French company, which paid him over $600,000 shortly after the investments were made. The SEC filed its complaint against Weiss in Massachusetts federal court last year alleging he failed to disclose conflicts of interests [...]

By |June 30th, 2016|Fraud, Press Releases & News, SEC|
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Transamerica To Pay $3.8M For Excessive Fees

Transamerica has agreed to settle an excessive-fee lawsuit with its employees who participated in its 401(k) plan for $3.8 million. The Plaintiffs in the case allege that Transamerica and its affiliates breached their fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 for charging excessive administrative and investment management fees. Transamerica serves as record keeper and investment manager for its $1.6 billion 401(k) plan. It allegedly administered the plan "for the benefit of Aegon," the firm's parent company, and acquired excessive fees for itself through revenue sharing payments, stated the complaint filed in February of last year. Judge Edward McManus of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, Cedar Rapids Division, granted preliminary approval of the settlement last week. The settlement also includes a number of non-monetary provisions. These include capping fees on a bond index mutual fund, S&P 500 fund and separate account investments; hiring a third-party investment consultant; and continuing [...]

By |June 29th, 2016|Press Releases & News|
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FINRA Bars Broker For Mishandling Client Funds

Last week, former Merrill Lynch broker Kenneth Daley submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he accepted a permanent bar from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with firms that sell securities to the public. FINRA found that he had been mishandling client funds. On June 16, 2016, Merrill Lynch filed a Uniform Termination Notices for Securities Industry Registration stating that his registrations had been terminated as of that date. Merrill Lynch also disclosed that at the time of his termination Daley was under internal review "for improperly receiving money from a client via checks written from an outside account." From 2007 to 2012, Daley was the broker of record for a husband and wife. After the husband died in late 2012, the widow became the sole point of contact on the account held at Merrill Lynch with Daley. The widow, an unsophisticated investor who had not held a job in nearly twenty years, also opened [...]

By |June 28th, 2016|FINRA, Press Releases & News|
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