FINRA Settlement Includes Restitution to More than 2,400 Customers In an agreement reached with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Transamerica Financial Advisors consented to pay $8.8M over the unsuitable sales of mutual funds, variable annuities (VAs) and 529 savings plans to customers. $4.4M of this is a fine and…
New FINRA Arbitration Claim Seeks $260K in Damages Former Wells Fargo Clearing Services (WRET) broker Herbert Lee Weith IV is named in yet another customer dispute in which the claimant is seeking damages for losses involving variable annuities. Weith, who was a Wells Fargo broker from 2012 to 2019 in…
Connecticut Investment Advisor is Also Part of RBC Team Chu, Philipps, and Associates Joseph Ijong Chu, an RBC Capital Markets stockbroker, has been named in a number of customer disputes this year. Chu is also a registered investment advisor with the broker-dealer. He is part of the RBC team known…
Ex-LPL Broker Marketed Non-Traded Investments To Mississippi Retiree A retired investor has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against LPL Financial and its former broker, Tamber King Proctor, seeking up to $100K in damages. The claimant contends that LPL Financial and Proctor should have never recommended that…
Proprietary, Non-Traded Oil, Gas and Energy Investments Plunged In Value If your David Lerner Associates broker recommended and sold you any of the firm’s proprietary non-traded oil and gas investments and you sustained significant losses, you may have grounds for an investor fraud claim for damages. The privately-held broker-dealer exclusively…
FINRA Suspends Texas Broker For Three Months Kurt Jason Gunter, a Wells Fargo Clearing Services (WRET) registered representative in Bee Cave, Texas, was recently sanctioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The self-regulatory organization (SRO) contends that he allegedly made unsuitable unit investment trust (UIT) sales to customers. In…
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Accuses Bank of Inadequate Internal Controls JPMorgan Chase Bank has been ordered to pay a $250M penalty. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) contends that the bank engaged in “unsafe and unsound practices” related to its internal controls and an…
Morgan Stanley Fires Financial Advisors After Inherited Account Credits Investigation Morgan Stanley (MS) announced recently that it has terminated a number of financial advisors after a months-long investigation into payments being made to retired Morgan Stanley financial advisors under Morgan Stanley’s own Legacy Account Payments Program. Morgan Stanley’s “sunset plan”…
Banned Woodbury Financial Broker Allegedly Sold Fake Investments, Converted Client Monies Ronald Walter Hannes, a Spokane, Washington-based investment advisor and former Woodbury Financial Services broker, is accused by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions of defrauding 19 clients of over $2.9M. Hannes had operated out of Hannes Financial Services…
Risky, Illiquid Business Development Company Was Not Suitable for Many Investors If you are someone who invested in the Sierra Income Corporation, you may have lost money. This business development company (BDC) is a non-traded investment. Earlier this year, Sierra Income suffered losses after its announced merger with Medley Capital…