Posts belonging to Category Regulatory Developments
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 25, 2013
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as well as the SEC and state regulators, have announced that they are concerned about broker/adviser sales practices involving alternative investments including variable annuities and equity-indexed annuities. They have the distribution of these complex products on their radar screens. On January 11, 2013, FINRA sent a letter to its […]
Categories: A General Overview, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Promissory Notes, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 21, 2013
Has the government gone too far in ignoring financial criminal conduct? Is the United States operating under an unspoken policy to refrain from prosecuting large financial institutions even if they believe criminal laws were violated? Are the regulators afraid that doing so might damage the economy? Those questions were raised in a recent Wall Street […]
Categories: A General Overview, Affinity Fraud, Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Early Retirement Scams, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Rights, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 14, 2013
OppenheimerFunds Inc. has agreed to pay more than $35,000,000 to settle SEC charges that it made misleading statements about two of its mutual funds during the credit crisis. The payments include a penalty of $24,000,000, disgorgement of $9,879,706, and prejudgment interest of $1,487,190. According to the SEC, Oppenheimer used total return swaps (a type of […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Oppenheimer, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 13, 2013
The SEC has charged the State of Illinois with securities fraud for misleading municipal bond investors between 2005 and early 2009. According to the SEC, Illinois failed to disclose the impact of structural underfunding of its pension system in connection with the offer and sale of more than $2.2 billion worth of municipal bonds. The […]
Categories: Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, ERISA Fiduciaries and Claims, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Municipal Bonds, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 11, 2013
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred broker Jeffrey Rubin of Lighthouse Point, Florida, from the securities industry for unsuitable recommendations to NFL players to invest in the securities of a now-bankrupt Alabama casino. The NFL players lost millions in the illiquid, high-risk investment. According to FINRA, Rubin made the recommendation to at least […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 7, 2013
Financial service industry whistleblower claims have become a hot item. Ironically, it is even reported that a crowd funding website is being used by an individual who hopes to raise money from people interested in investing in a portfolio of financial whistleblower claims. Of course, crowd funding is one of the newest and most controversial […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Financial Industry Whistleblowers, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Regulatory Developments, SEC Whistleblowers, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Alan PerryonMarch 1, 2013
Is the federal government really getting tougher on white-collar crime? Faced with criticism for not holding big banks and their senior executives accountable for their behavior leading up to the financial crisis, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), which prosecutes federal crime cases, is developing a new model for dealing with alleged financial crimes perpetrated […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Ponzi Schemes, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 28, 2013
Financial advisers continue to object to a recent rule that grants securities regulators more access to potentially relevant documents under the adviser’s control. The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a rule change proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that significantly increases FINRA’s ability to discover a member firm’s documents. FINRA is now […]
Categories: Brokerage Firms, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Employment Issues, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Jobs, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 20, 2013
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has finally joined the crowd in warning investors about the risks of bonds and bond funds in the current environment. If FINRA is worried about bonds, the end may be near. FINRA may be late in warning investors about bond and bond fund risks say financial advisers, but investors […]
Categories: Bonds, Brokerage Firms, Church Bonds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Elder Abuses, Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Misrepresentation/Omission, Mutual Funds, Regulatory Developments, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Smart Investing Tools, Unsuitable Recommendations
Posted by Alan PerryonFebruary 18, 2013
LPL Financial, the country’s largest independent broker-dealer, is encountering serious problems involving its sales of alternative investments. LPL is also (not coincidentally) one of the country’s largest sellers of alternative investment products. In 2011, LPL sold $758,435,677 of variable annuities (which are considered by most industry observers as being alternative investments) and $110,643,148 of other […]
Categories: Alternative Funds, Alternative Investments, Brokerage Firms, Closed End Funds, Common Securities Broker Abuses, Crowd Funding, Derivatives, Disciplinary Actions, Elder Abuses, Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs), Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), Fairness/Just & Equitable Conduct, Hedge Funds, High Yield (Junk) Bonds, Investigations, Investment Advisers, Investment Malpractice, Investor Alerts, Life Policies/Viatical Settlements, Limited Partnerships, LPL Financial, Misrepresentation/Omission, Nontraded REITs, Oil & Gas, Private Equity Investments, Private Investments/Reg D, Regulatory Developments, Reverse Convertibles, Securities, Securities/Commodities Arbitration, Securities/Commodities Litigation, Structured Notes, Supervisory Failures, Tenant-in-Common Interests, Unsuitable Recommendations, Variable Annuities and Equity-Indexed Annuities
