The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed enforcement actions against a number of attorneys for offering EB-5 investments even though they are not registered brokers. As SEC Enforcement Division Director Andrew J. Ceresney noted, individuals who conduct certain services and get commissions when raising funds for EB-5 projects have to…
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has issued a statement announcing the conviction of Mazzam Ifzal Malik, also known as Mark Malik, on 28 criminal charges that involved him stealing over $800,000 from investors. According to the state, the hedge fund manager set up fake hedge funds so he could…
Bloomberg reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether financial firms colluded together so that prices in the $6 trillion credit default swaps indexes market became skewed. According to the news outlet’s source, the regulator is trying to figure out whether dealers misrepresented index prices. The…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s plan to shorten the waiting period for when certain information reported on Form U5 can be released on BrokerCheck.com from 15 days to three days. This includes information about broker firings. The modification will go into effect on…
RCS Capital Corp. is closing its wholesaling brokerage unit following allegations of fraud and a drop in its sales of nontraded real estate investment trusts. InvestmentNews reports that according to a source, about 150 employees at Realty Capital Securities are expected to be laid off, as are another 50 employees…
Douglas MacFaddin and Charles LeCroy will pay $326,373 to settle SEC civil charges accusing them of paying friends of Jefferson County, Alabama officials $8.2M in return for $5B in county bond business. Together, the ex-J.P. Morgan Securities (JPM) executives will pay $326,373 once a district court judge approves the proposed…
The SEC has filed charges against ex-broker Richard Kenney and twin brothers Shahryar Afshar and Behruz Afshar. The regulator is accusing them of going around market structure rules and engaging in options trading scams. The regulator claims that the three men improperly traded options to garner lower fees and gain…
Twelve years after Allied Irish Banks Plc (AIB) filed a securities lawsuit against Citigroup (C) accusing the bank of helping a rogue trader conceal about $691 million in losses, the case is slated to go to trial next month. AIB reportedly wants $872M from the New York-based bank— $372M in…
Former Stockbroker Raises Over $1.2M from Customers to Remodel His Home The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging ex-stockbroker Bernard M. Parker with Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 violations, as well as violations of Rule 10b-5. The regulator says that Parker raised over $1.2M from…
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Management and Budget says to expect the notice of proposed rulemaking for the Personalized Investment Advice Standard of Conduct in October 2016. The SEC’s fiduciary standard rule has been anticipated ever since 2010 when the Dodd-Frank Act gave the regulator the authority to…