Articles Posted in Investor Education

On March 7, 2013, FINRA barred Lighthouse Point, Florida broker dealer Jeffrey Brett Rubin from the securities industry for making unsuitable recommendations to his client. Rubin recommended to his customer, an NFL Player, to invest in illiquid, high-risk securities issued in connection with a now-bankrupt casino in Alabama. As a result, the customer lost approximately $3 million.…

On February 15, 2013, we posted a blog entitled, Senate Banking Committee Leader Pushing for Uniform Fiduciary Duty, which detailed how Sen. Jon Tester was pushing the SEC to focus on advancing the uniform fiduciary duty. On March 4, 2013, we also posted a blog entitled SEC Requests Comments and Information to Assess Standards of Conduct and…

The SEC is deploying an innovative computerized data-mining tool designed to automatically detect suspicious trade and accounting activities and trigger alerts to publicly traded companies. The SEC plans to roll out the early warning system this year. The proposed warning system will have a “rich capillary of information”, constantly provided by companies through official filings including…

On March 6, 2013, Alabama Securities Commission Director Joseph Borg warned that investors need to be on the lookout for an investment scheme that is designed to defraud investors by tricking them into wiring money to Eastern Europe. This warning was issued because a Birmingham, England-based company operating under the name Profitable Sunrise is promising investors risk-free…

On March 5, 2013, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), an association of state securities regulators, unveiled its advocacy agenda for 2013. NASAA believes its agenda “provides the 113th Congress with a roadmap to promote investor confidence by striking the most reasonable balance between promoting capital formation and protecting investors.” The agenda is built on five core…

On March 4, 2013, we published a blog entitled SEC Requests Comments and Information to Assess Standards of Conduct and Other Obligations of Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisors, that detailed the SEC’s request for comments on the possible uniform fiduciary duty and harmonized regulation for broker-dealers and investment advisors. In the wake of this, many advisor advocates are…

On March 4, 2013, the SEC released an investor alert that warned that they had “found significant deficiencies in the way that investment advisers are handling the custody of client assets.” In the alert, the SEC said “that in recent examinations, custody-related problems were identified in one-third of the firms reviewed, or about 140 firms. Advisors have failed…

The past few weeks we have detailed the battle between FINRA and Charles Schwab over the company’s uses of class action waivers in its arbitration agreements. Most recently, it has been discussed that this battle may be settled in the United States Supreme Court. The case is currently with FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council (NAC). If it…

On March 2, 2013, the SEC published its request for data and other information to assist them in considering whether to make new rules about the standards of conduct and regulatory obligations for broker-dealers and investment advisors when they provide personalized investment advice about securities to retail customers. This is effectively the SEC seeking comment on the possible uniform…

On February 6, 2013, we posted a blog entitled RBS Paying $612 Million to Resolve LIBOR Case, which detailed RBS’s agreement to settle with federal regulators for the companies role in the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal. These same federal prosecutors and regulators are now aiming to reach settlements with at-least three more major financial institutions by the end…