Richard Gearhart & George McKown Charged With Securities Fraud
Richard Gearhart of Lowell, Indiana and George McKown of Indianapolis, Indiana have been indicted on fraud charges after prosecutors claim they sold securities to investors despite not being registered to do so. The two were charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, and wire fraud, said U.S. Attorney David Capp. [su_spacer size=”10″] According […]
Morgan Stanley Fined $13M By SEC
The SEC announced today that Morgan Stanley agreed to pay a $13 million fine to resolve allegations that it overbilled investment advisory clients due to coding and other billing system errors. Morgan Stanley also violated the custody rule regarding annual surprise examinations. [su_spacer size=”10″] The firm overcharged over 149,000 advisory clients because it failed to […]
Gregory Dean And Donald Fowler Charged By SEC
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John Rafal Barred From Securities Industry
The SEC barred Connecticut investment adviser John Rafal for hiding a referral fee from a client and then attempting to thwart the SEC’s investigation. He was also pay $577,297 in penalties. Rafal, the former president and CEO of Essex Financial Services Inc. in Essex, Connecticut, obtained a new customer with accounts valuing over $100 million from […]
Valic Financial Advisors Fined $1.75M
Referring to several conflicts of interest regarding how the firm paid brokers selling annuities, FINRA announced that it fined Valic Financial Advisors Inc. $1.75 million. FINRA found that VFA “failed to have a reasonable system to address and review the conflict of interest created by its compensation policy,” the regulator stated. It specifically pointed to occasions […]
VFG Securities Settles Claims With FINRA
VFG Securities Inc., a small broker-dealer, and its owner, Jason Vanclef, reached a settlement agreement with FINRA regarding allegations that he and the firm had customers overly concentrated in illiquid investments and had used a book he had written to pump up these alternative investments. FINRA had filed a complaint claiming that the firm failed […]
Ash Narayan Banned For Defrauding Pro Athletes
Former financial adviser Ash Narayan agreed to be barred from associating with brokerage or advisory firms to settle regulators’ allegations that he secretly received nearly $2 million from companies that he invested his professional athlete clients in for at least five years. Narayan additionally placed clients in unsuitable private investments and misrepresented himself as a […]
Phil Fiore Jr. Fired By UBS For Multiple Violations
UBS Financial Services Inc. fired Phil Fiore Jr., one of its top brokers based in Stamford, Connecticut, for failing to keep the firm informed of outside business activities, even while he was under heightened supervision. Fiore was terminated at the close of November for violating firm policies, including not disclosing an unpaid directorship at a […]
Twelve Firms Fined For Cybersecurity Issues
FINRA dished out $14.4 million in fines to twelve firms for breaches pertaining to the retention of broker-dealers’ and clients’ electronic records, which the regulator says made the firms vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. The firms include Wells Fargo & Co. and RBC Capital networks, RBS Securities Inc., SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc., LPL Financial, Georgeson Securities Corp. […]
Morgan Stanley Fined For Failing To Deliver Fund Prospectuses Online
FINRA fined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney $1.5 million for technical failures, including a faulty website link that obstructed client’s from viewing fund prospectuses. [su_spacer size=”10″] For a number of years before 2013, Morgan Stanley made mandated fund prospectuses available to customers online. However, as the FINRA settlement states, in November 2013, Morgan Stanley updated its […]