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…
DetailsOn 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…
DetailsOn 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…
DetailsOn March 1, 2013, the SEC filed a civil injunctive action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York relating to the fraudulent offer and sale of limited partnership interests in two hedge funds, RAHFCO Funds LP and RAHFCO Growth Fund LP (“RAHFCO Hedge Funds”). The SEC charged RAHFCO Management…
DetailsOn 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.…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsOn 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…
DetailsOn 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…
DetailsIn a recent ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Gabelli et al. v. SEC, the SEC now must file cases seeking civil penalties for securities fraud within five years of the alleged incident. This decision now puts a premium on quick action by the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, particularly since there likely are…
DetailsIn 2012, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired Morgan Keegan from Regions Financial Corp. Raymond James, ahead of schedule, has completed the integration of Morgan Keegan advisors and their clients to the company’s technology platform and simultaneously announced