Next Financial Group Inc. will be purchased by Atria Solutions. The Houston-based independent broker-dealer is the fourth brokerage firm that Atria, which is located in Dallas, has acquired since 2017. The other brokerage firms are Cadaret Grant & Co., Cusco Financial Services, and Sorrento Pacific Financial. Next Financial currently has…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has filed civil charges against a number of companies and brokers who illegally sold Woodbridge Group of Companies securities to retail investors. Woodbridge, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year, its owner Robert H. Shapiro, and several others have since been charged with running…
If you are an investor that has lost money because of an unsuitable margin call in your investment account, you may have grounds for filing a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim to try and recover your losses. Unfortunately, a lot of investors may not understand what they are…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is ordering Merrill Lynch to pay $300K after finding that it did not properly supervise former broker Eva Weinberg, who went to prison for defrauding former NFL football player Dwight Freeney. Merrill, which is now a wholly-owned Bank of America (BAC) subsidiary, consented to…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has suspended former Securities America broker Michael D. Jackson for six months following allegations that he traded options in one client’s account without telling the brokerage firm. Securities America has since fired Jackson. According to the self-regulatory authority (SRO), in 2016, the ex-Securities America…
Steven Pagartanis, an ex-New York broker with Lombard Securities, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and mail fraud in a Ponzi scam that went on for more than 18 years and caused investors to lose more than $9M of the over $13M that they invested. Many of his victims were…
A Florida-based wealth management firm is once again in the headlines over its hiring of brokers with “checkered” pasts. According to a recent Business Insider article, International Assets Advisory (IAA), which oversees approximately $2.5B in customer funds, “proudly hires” brokers that other investment firms wouldn’t even consider, including some with…
DOJ Distributes Another $695M to Over 27,000 Madoff Ponzi Scam Victims A decade on the heels of Bernard Madoff’s arrest for running a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scam, the US Justice Department has distributed another $695M to over 27,000 of his victims. This is the DOJ’s third payment to investors of…
Legend Securities Ordered to Pay Client For Churning His Funds A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) panel has awarded Herbert W. Voss $1.075M in his securities fraud case against Legend Securities Inc., its ex-chief compliance officer Frank Philip Fusco, and former Legend broker Danard Warthen Brown. Legend is no longer…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has suspended David Howard Fagenson, a former UBS Financial Services (UBS) broker, for eight months. Fagenson, now registered with Newbridge Securities, is accused of unsuitable trading in the accounts of three older clients. The allegedly excessive trades are said to have created significant losses…