Author Archives: FLSecurities
SEC Charges Texas Man With Securities Fraud on Deaf Community
The SEC recently charged a Texas man, Jody Dunn, with securities fraud for soliciting more than $3.45 million from thousands of deaf investors. Dunn claimed he would invest the funds in Imperia Invest IBC, a company that allegedly raised more than $7 million from investors while promising guaranteed returns of 1.2 percent a day…. Read More »
FINRA Fines Broker-Dealers For Improper Handling Fees
On September 7, FINRA fined five broker-dealers for assessing improper handling fees against customers. The firms, including Boca Raton-based Pointe Capital, Inc. (now known as JHS Capital Advisors, Inc.), were fined for charging excessive handling fees that greatly exceeded the cost of the handling services provided by the firms. FINRA concluded that the fees… Read More »
SEC Stops Fraud by Hedge Fund Manager
On August 31, 2011, the SEC announced it froze the assets of a Chicago-based money manager and his hedge fund advisory firm for lying to prospective investors in their startup hedge fund. The SEC claims that Belal K. Faruki and his firm, Neural Markets LLC, solicited highly sophisticated individuals to invest in the “Evolution… Read More »
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and SunTrust Investment Services Fined a Total of $5 Million by FINRA for Auction Rate Securities Violations
On July 26, 2011, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that it fined SunTrust Robinson Humphrey (“SunTrust RH”) and SunTrust Investment Services (“SunTrust IS”) for violations in connection with the sale of auction rate securities (“ARS”). SunTrust RH, the underwriter of the ARS, was fined $ 4.6 million for not sufficiently disclosing the… Read More »
JANNEY MONTGOMERY CHARGED BY SEC WITH FAILING TO MAINTAIN AND ENFORCE POLICIES TO PREVENT MISUSE OF MATERIAL NONPUBLIC INFORMATION
On July 11, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) brought and settled charges that Janney Montgomery Scott (“Janney”), a dually-registered broker dealer and investment advisor, failed to establish and enforce policies and procedures, as required by the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, to protect material nonpublic information from misuse. The SEC’s order… Read More »
Morgan Keegan Settles Fraud Charges for $200 Million
The SEC, state regulators, and FINRA have announced today that Morgan Keegan & Co. and an affiliate have agreed to pay $200 million to settle fraud charges related to subprime mortgage-backed securities. Two Morgan Keegan employees also agreed to pay penalties for their misconduct, The SEC’s order settling the charges finds that Morgan Keegan… Read More »
SEC AND FINRA ISSUE INVESTOR ALERT ON STRUCTURED NOTES WITH PRINCIPAL PROTECTION
The SEC and FINRA have issued an investor alert to educate investors about the risks of structured notes with principal protection. These products, notwithstanding their names, have substantial risks. Structured notes with principal protection have a zero-coupon bond – which pays no interest until the bond matures — with an option or other derivative… Read More »
SEC Charges UBS With Fraudulent Rigging of Municipal Bond Transactions
The SEC has charged UBS Financial Services Inc. (UBS) with fraudulently rigging more than one hundred municipal bond transactions. UBS has agreed to pay $47.2 million to settle the transactions. The money will be returned to the impacted municipalities. UBS and its affiliates have further agreed to pay $113 million to settle parallel cases… Read More »
Citigroup Hit for $54 Million in FINRA Arbitration Award Relating to MAT/ASTA Funds
Investors just won a $54.1 million award against Citigroup in a FINRA arbitration. The award involves investments pertaining to MAT and ASTA funds. The investments involved high risk leveraging and arbitrage of municipal bonds that purportedly lost over 70% of their value. The award is so large that Citigroup is expected to move to… Read More »
Group for Colonial Bank and Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Charged for $1.5 Billion Kiting Scheme
The SEC has charged Teresa Kelly and Catherine Kissick from Colonial Bank and Lee Farkas and Desiree Brown from TBW with fraud for their various roles in a seven and half year kiting scheme between Colonial Bank and Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corporation totaling approximately $1.5 billion. The four persons charged worked together… Read More »