The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has permanently barred ex-Caldwell International Securities Corp. broker Richard Adams from the industry. Adams is accused of churning customer accounts. According to FINRA, from July 2013 to June 2014, Adams engaged in excessive trading and churned the accounts of two customers, making close to $57,000…
Investor Lawyers Blog
Goldman Sachs to Pay $272M to Pension Funds In Mortgage Securities Case
Goldman Sachs Group (GS) will pay $272 million to more than 400 bond investors, including two electrical pension funds, to settle a lawsuit alleging that it made misleading disclosures in order to sell mortgage securities backed by faulty loans. The lead plaintiff in the case was the NECA-IBEW Health and…
Edward Jones to Pay $20M to Resolve Municipal Bond Sales Overcharges
Edward D. Jones & Co., the brokerage firm subsidiary of Jones Financial Companies, has consented to pay $20 million to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations accusing the firm of overcharging clients by at least $4.6 million on new municipal bond sales. The regulator contends that the brokerage firm…
ITG, AlterNet Securities to Pay $20.3M to Settle SEC Charges that it Misused Confidential Dark Pool Data, Ran Secret Trading Desk
ITG Inc. and affiliate AlterNet Securities will pay $20.3M to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing them of running a secret trading desk and misusing dark pool subscribers’ confidential trading information. As part of the settlement, ITG admitted to wrongdoing. According to the regulator, even though it told the…
Dad of Ex-JPMorgan Banker Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading
The father of a former JPMorgan (JPM) banker has pleaded guilty to taking part in an insider trading ring with his son. Robert Stewart will forfeit $150,000 and faces five years behind bars. According to the U.S. Justice Department, Stewart’s son, Sean Stewart, allegedly gave his father tips about upcoming…
UBS Ordered to Pay Over $2.5M to Retired Couple in Puerto Rico Bond Fraud Case
UBS Financial Services, Inc. and UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico (collectively “UBS”) must pay over $2.5 million to Orlando Rodriguez Gonzales and Milagros Vila Maldonado for their investment losses related to the proprietary closed-end bond funds that they bought in Puerto Rico. The funds were sold to them by…
StockCross Financial Services to Pay $800K for Regulation SHO Violations
FINRA says that StockCross Financial Services, Inc. will pay an $800,000 fine for violating Regulation SHO, as well as supervisory violations that went on for over three years. By settling, the firm is not denying or admitting to the charges. It has, however, consented to the entry of the self-regulatory…
Pimco Gets Wells Notice Over Markings of Total Return ETF
Pacific Investment Management Co. said that the SEC has sent it a Wells notice indicating that its staff is recommending that the regulator file a civil case against the financial firm over the way securities were marked in its PimcoTotal Return Active Exchange-Traded Fund. That’s the ETF version of Pimco’s…
Senate Bill Would Double Statute of Limitations for The SEC to Pursue Securities Violations
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. has introduced a bill that would give the Securities and Exchange Commission a longer period of time to uncover and impose penalties for financial fraud. Under his proposal the statute of limitations for pursuing civil penalties would be extended from five years to ten years.…
Houston-Area Business Man Charged with Running $114M Texas Ponzi Scam
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Frederick Alan Voight with Texas securities fraud in running an alleged $114 million Ponzi scam that bilked investors. The regulator claims that the Houston-area man defrauded over 300 investors via multiple offerings of promissory notes that his companies DayStar Finding LP and F.A.…