Articles Posted in Investor Education

The Securities Arbitration Commentator (SAC) recently took notice of a new investor education project that was spearheaded by our own Jason Doss.  Mr. Doss is a recent past president of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, or PIABA, and the current president of the PIABA Foundation.  PIABA is an association of attorneys from around the country who…

Reuters reports that bankruptcies in the U.S. oil industry have reached record levels.  The number of bankrupt oil and gas companies is 59 and counting, and we are not even half-way through the wave of bankruptcy filings, according to a Reuters article entitled U.S. oil industry bankruptcy wave nears size of telecom bust.  As the article’s…

Fortune magazine reports that investors have lost $1.78 Trillion so far this year!  Investors should review the asset allocation of their portfolios and determine whether or not it is appropriate given their risk tolerance, investment objective and time horizon.  Financial advisors and their firms have a duty to their clients to make suitable investment recommendations…

On September 29, 2015, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) released for public comment a proposed model to help broker-dealers, investment firms, and employees to better recognize if a senior or other vulnerable adult is being financially exploited. Judith Shaw, the NASAA President and Maine Securities Administrator, said, “Working together we can and will…

In the November 2015 issue of Consumer Reports, light is shed on the fact that roughly 1 in 20 senior adults claim to have been financially abused and why seniors seem to be among the most frequent targets of fraudsters. These perpetrators disguise themselves as government officials such as the FBI or the IRS and claim…

On September 22, 2015 the North American Securities Administrators Association released their Annual Enforcement Report. The study was conducted from 49 jurisdictions throughout the United States and showed that twenty-five percent of enforcements actions taken in 2014 occurred where seniors were the victims. According to NASAA President and Washington Securities Director William Beatty, “This number…

The Puerto Rican bond default is a “slow motion train wreck” that has been occurring now for several years with Puerto Rico having publicly announced its intention not to pay its bond debt. Yet half of U.S. municipal bond mutual funds hold Puerto Rican bond debt, and the exposure of the top ten such mutual…

On January 6, 2015, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) published its tenth annual Regulatory and Examinations Priorities Letter. In that letter, FINRA identified five areas, which it described as “recurring challenges,” that have harmed investors and resulted in compliance and supervisory breakdowns at member firms. At the top of FINRA’s list of problem areas is…

A just-released government memorandum finds that people investing for retirement have lost billions of dollars as a result of abusive sales practices, and that brokers handling retirement accounts should be held to a stricter fiduciary duty standard to better protect workers’ retirement savings, according to an InvestmentNews article entitled “Brokers under White House scrutiny for…

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently filed fraud charges against a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based investment advisor and related funds in the federal district court for the Southern District of Florida. The SEC’s complaint names Frederic Elm (formerly known as Frederic Elmaleh), his unregistered advisory firm Elm Tree Investment Advisors LLC, and three funds: Elm Tree Investment Fund…