Lax Oversight Purportedly Allowed An LPL Broker to Continue Defrauding Customers in Ponzi Scam The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined LPL Financial Holdings (LPLA) $6.5M due to purported supervisory inadequacies related to recordkeeping, fingerprinting employees that were non-registered representatives, and its financial advisers’ consolidated reports. The self-regulatory organization…
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…
Broker-Dealer’s RIA Accused of Violating Fiduciary Duty The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Voya Financial Advisors have arrived at a $22.9M settlement, including $13.9M in restitution and interest to customers that were harmed. Voya Financial Advisors is an independent brokerage firm that is run as both a broker-dealer…
Former Kentucky-Based Merrill Lynch Broker Gets Eight Years in Prison Christopher Lee Hibbard, a former stockbroker for Merrill Lynch and Pierce, Fenner & Smith is sentenced to eight years in prison. The ex-Kentucky stockbroker pleaded guilty to investment fraud and multiple counts of wire fraud earlier this year. Hibbard, who…
Coastal Equities Has Been The Subject of $3M in Investor Arbitration Claims Coastal Equities, a mid-sized broker-dealer, recently arrived at a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which it agreed to give $280K in restitution to several customers. The firm is accused of failing to reasonably supervise…
New York Stockbroker is Named in Multiple Customer Disputes If you suffered substantial losses from investments recommended to you by Spartan Capital Securities broker Joseph Kelly, you may have grounds for filing a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim to recover your losses. Kelly, who is based in New…
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…
Investors May Have Been Subject to Unsuitable Recommendations & Misrepresentations If you are a UBS customer whose broker persuaded you to invest in Noble Corporation, you likely have lost money. The offshore drilling company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 31 in Houston, Texas. Noble Corp. took a…
Former Customers of Boca Raton, Florida Financial Advisor Request $700K in Damages Two investors have filed separate Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claims against Noble Capital Markets registered representative, Joseph Menachem Hain, also known as Joey Hain. Based in Boca Raton, Hain is the broker-dealer’s investment banking director. He…
Senior Investor’s Loses Retirement Funds Because of Unsuitable Investment An Arkansas retiree has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against LPL Financial for losses he suffered because of the unsuitable recommendation of Rhett Douglas Bedwell, one of the broker-dealer’s former registered representatives. Bedwell, who is no longer…