Wall Street Investment Fraud Lawyer Blog

Private placements are investments that have not been registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The lack of registration is either unlawful, or lawful due to an exemption from registration under the securities laws. Private placement investments are always high-risk investments that are complex, not transparent, and illiquid (cannot be readily sold) –…

According to a recent news release, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and an affiliate $550,000 ordered them to pay approximately $475,000 in restitution to 65 customers for making unsuitable recommendations of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The affiliate is Century Securities Associates, Inc., which is owned by…

Each year, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) publishes a letter to the financial services industry identifying its regulatory and examination priorities. FINRA is the industry’s “self-regulatory organization,” which is charged with policing sales practice violations by its member broker-dealer firms, among other things. According to FINRA, its letter highlights important risks and problem areas in the…

Banking giant J. P. Morgan Chase has reached a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid criminal prosecution for its role in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme. According to the prosecutors, J. P. Morgan, which had custody of Madoff accounts, witnessed suspicious money transfers, too-good-to-be-true investment returns, unverifiable trading activity, and the use of a one-man…

On October 30, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that is has awarded $150,000 to an anonymous whistleblower. It is the sixth award since the SEC Whistleblower program began two years ago. So far, the largest award is $14 million. Under the SEC’s program, persons who voluntarily provide original information about a possible securities…

On April 22, 2013, George Canellos and Andrew Ceresney were named as SEC’s Division of Enforcement co-directors. Both have ties to SEC’s new chairman Mary Jo White. Canellos worked as an assistant attorney to Ms. White while she was the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York in the 1990s to early 2000s. Then…

On April 19, 2013, the FINRA Board of Governors approved several proposed rule changes that now will be submitted to the SEC for review and approval. Two that center on the FINRA arbitration process are detailed below: First, the Board authorized FINRA to file with the SEC proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 12403 which would simplify securities…

On April 19, 2013, Rep. Maxine Waters introduced legislation that would allow the SEC to charge user fees to investment advisors to fund their oversight. Ms. Waters said that the SEC needs a source of revenue dedicated to regulating advisors and the bill would authorize fees to fund investment advisor examinations. Under the bill, the user…

On April 18, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report that detailed its view that regulators need to do more to stop older Americans from being confused by “the scores of senior designations that financial advisors use.” The CFPB believes the SEC should consider setting up a centralized tool for investors to verify an…

On April 12, 2013, we posted a blog entitled FINRA Charges Discount Firm with Fraudulent Sales, which detailed FINRA’s complaint against Success Trade Securities Inc, an online discount firm, and its CEO, Fuad Ahmed alleging fraudulent sales of promissory notes. New details are emerging in this case. Yahoo! Sports reports that many of Success Trade Securities…