A FINRA arbitration panel has fined Wedbush Securities Incorporated, founder Edward Wedbush, and broker Debbie Michelle Saleh to pay $2,865,885 in damages. The victim of this securities case was Rick Cooper, an elderly investor. His securities claim alleged breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, failure to supervise, intentional misrepresentation…
FINRA has put out an alert warning investors about financial scams touting gold stocks. The name of the investor alert is “Gold” Stocks-Some Investments Mine Your Pocketbook. The caution comes as the cost of bullion reaches level highs and the increase in the number of websites, blogs, Tweets, and YouTube…
Two months after a federal grand jury indicted Tamara Lanz Moon for misappropriating more than $800,000 in clients’ money, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Citigroup Global Markets $500,000 for failing to properly supervise her. Moon is charged with six counts of mail fraud. The acts of broker…
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has ordered CapWest Securities Incorporated to pay nearly $940,000 in a Texas securities fraud case filed by a group of investors over the recommendation and sale of numerous illiquid, risky, convertible debentures. The claimants had accused CapWest of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract,…
A Financial Industry Regulator Authority Panel has ordered WedBush Securities Inc. to pay one of its traders over $3.5 million for refusing to properly compensate him. According to claimant Stephen Kelleher, he worked for the financial firm for years without consistently getting the incentive-base compensation that he was promised as…
Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corporation must pay hedge funds Rosen Capital Partners LP and Rosen Capital Institutional LP $63,665,202.00 in compensatory damages plus interest (9% from October 7, 2008). A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel issued the order which found the respondent liable. In their statement of claim, made…
According to Ex-Texas State Securities Board Denise Voigt Crawford, giving oversight of nearly 12,000 investment advisers to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to cut costs is a bad idea and one for which investors will end up paying the price. FINRA is Wall Street’s self-funded regulator. Already charged with overseeing…
In Houston, a FINRA arbitration panel has awarded Boushy North Investments, Ltd. $500,000 in its securities arbitration case against Penson Financial Services, Inc. Boushy North Investments had initially sought $4M in punitive damages and more than $3.8M in compensatory damages for negligence, unauthorized trading, breach of fiduciary duty, and gross…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s proposed rule change subjecting certain back office personnel of broker-dealers to registration and qualification examination requirements. The changes would be made to FINRA Rule 1230(b)(6). The SEC says it is approving the proposed change on an expedited basis…
FINRA has filed securities charges against David Lerner & Associates, Inc. accusing the broker-dealer of not taking into account suitability when soliciting vulnerable investors-in particular, elderly clients, to buy shares in the non-traded, $2B Apple REIT Ten offering. The SRO is also accusing the broker-dealer of posting misleading information online…