Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) recently introduced legislation that would let defendants choose the option of having their case tried in federal court instead of by a Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge. Garrett believes that the regulator has been overusing its in-house courts, practically turning itself into “judge, jury,…
FINRA Plans to Fine MetLife for Purported Variable Annuities Violations The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is looking to impose a significant fine against MetLife’s broker-dealer unit related to possible violations involving variable annuities. The company is cooperating with the regulator’s probe, which is looking at alleged suitability, misrepresentation, and supervision…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel has awarded The Elliot Family Trust DTD, Eugene Elliot, Genraza LLC, and Shawn Elliot Over $1M in their securities arbitration case against J.P. Morgan Securities (JPM). The claimants are contending fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and omissions, failure to control and supervise, and…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against Fenway Partners LLC and four of its executives. According to the regulator, when fund and portfolio company assets were used to pay ex-firm employees and an entity to which the New York-based private equity firm is affiliated the parties did not…
SEC Names More Brokers in Penny Stock Rigging Case Filed Last Year The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging three more people related to a $300M penny stock rigging case that it filed last year. In federal court, the regulator sought to lift the stay in its civil case to…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is awarding over $325K to an ex-investment firm employee who notified the regulator about misconduct that had been going on at his former employer. The information he provided allowed the SEC’s enforcement staff to investigate and discover the extent of the fraud. In addition to…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has issued a warning about the risks involved with binary options trading. The alert comes in the wake of numerous calls the regulator has received through its Securities Helpline for Seniors – HELPS™. According to callers, there are business entities claiming to be binary options…
According to InvestmentNews, the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at instances in which advisers have access to their clients’ financial accounts that they don’t manage. The SEC wants to make sure that these advisors are unable to take distributions from these accounts if they don’t have custody over them.…
SEC Seeks to Limit JP Morgan’s Ability to Raise Client Money An Over $200K settlement between J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and regulators has stalled because of efforts by federal regulators to limit the firm’s ability to raise money for clients. The move is an attempt to place a…
Michael Szafranski, the financial adviser of Ponzi mastermind Scott Rothstein, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for wire fraud. Szafranski, who pled guilty, had already paid $6.5M of restitution to victims of the $1.2B financial fraud through the trustee handling the bankruptcy of Rothstein’s law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt…