AARP recently issued a warning to veterans, warning of fraudsters claiming “instant eligibility for additional benefits through a quick overhaul of [their] investments.” This growing scam can lead to serious financial harm and can often cause other difficulties for the veteran victims. The scammers claim that the purchase of investments with them will make the…
DetailsSome experts are saying that gold will be the next bubble to burst. They may have a point. According to The Street, before the financial crisis, in January 2007, gold was priced at $650 per ounce. The average price of gold had fluctuated between $300 and $500 per ounce during the 10 years prior. Today,…
DetailsIn July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act went into effect. The federal legislation requires the Securities Exchange Commission to conduct a study by January 2011 to determine whether a fiduciary standard, which requires financial advisors to put their clients’ interests first, should be applied to all financial professionals giving personalized…
DetailsAccording to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) press release, the SEC has charged Barbra Alexander along with two other executives at APS Funding with misappropriating $2.5 million in investor funds. It is alleged that Alexander, former president of APS Funding and former host of an internationally syndicated radio show, MoneyDots, lured investors using her…
DetailsLast month, FINRA, the organization that regulates the securities industry, ordered SunTrust Investment Services of Atlanta, Georgia to pay $1.44 million to resolve charges related to the unsuitable recommendations of unit investment trusts, closed-end funds and mutual fund investments sold to some of its elderly and disabled clients. Of that amount, $900,000 is a fine…
DetailsAccording to Investment News, the brokerage firm Securities America, Inc. and the Massachusetts Securities Division squared off over charges that the firm misled 60 investors in the state who bought $7.2 million in MedCap notes from the firm’s brokers. In total, 400 Securities America reps and advisors sold about $700 million of the private placement…
DetailsOn September 30th, the SEC announced that it charged two former State Street Bank and Trust Company employees, John P. Flannery and James H. Hopkins, with misleading investors about their exposure to sub-prime investments. The SEC alleged that Flannery and Hopkins marketed State Street’s Limited Duration Bond Fund as an “enhanced cash” investment strategy that…
DetailsEarlier this week, we reported that NASAA, an organization consisting of state securities regulators, listed leveraged and inverse ETFs as the top investment trap for retail investors. According to Investment News, the concerns are specific to leveraged and inverse ETFs, not ETFs that track mainstream stock indexes. Leveraged ETFs are designed to return a multiple…
DetailsPerhaps in response to criticism by the public and regulators that investors do not get a fair shake in arbitration when they sue investment firms, FINRA took steps to level the playing field for investors by proposing to eliminate the much maligned industry arbitrator from arbitration panels. This proposal could significantly improve investors’ chances of…
DetailsLast Sunday, as I drove home from my church in Marietta, Georgia, I thought about Bishop Eddie Long, a person who prior to last week I had never heard of much less ever thought about. My wife had told me that he was speaking to his congregation Sunday morning, the media would be in attendance,…
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