The Office Comptroller of the Currency has placed restrictions on the mortgage-servicing operations of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co (JPM), Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC), Everbank Financial Corp. (EVER), U.S. Bancorp (USB), and Santander Holdings USA Inc. for their failure to totally comply with enforcement orders…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has filed an elder financial fraud case against broker John Waszolek, who worked for UBS Wealth Management (UBS) at the time of the allegations. According to the self-regulatory organization, in 2009, Waszkolek took advantage of an 81-year-old client when he had her appoint him…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging the former president of SFX Financial Advisory Management Enterprises with stealing client funds. The regulator’s Enforcement Division contends that Brian J. Ourand abused his discretionary authority over several clients’ accounts. He allegedly stole about $670,000 over five years by writing himself checks and…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Nicholas Lattanzio with hedge fund fraud. The New Jersey man is accused of pretending to be a hedge fund manager and bilking small companies out of over $4 million. According to the regulator, Lattanzio falsely promised small businesses that he would organize project…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging three men with insider trading in the stock and options of Ardea Biosciences Inc. Those charged included the company’s senior director of information technology Michael J. Fefferman, his brother in-law Chad E. Wiegand, and Akis C. Eracleous. Wiegand and Eracleous are stockbrokers.…
Thomas J. Buck, the money manager who was let go from Merrill Lynch (MER) earlier this year, is the subject of several investor complaints alleging misrepresentation, unauthorized trading, and other wrongdoing. The cases could impact his new position at RBC Wealth Management. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says there have…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued an alert warning non-U.S. and U.S. investors about scammers who use fake regulator websites and identities to steal money. Some scammers have even used FINRA’s name or pretended to be employed by the self-regulatory organization. These fraudsters will typically ask for an advance payment…
Andrew L. Evans, a trader living in Canada, has consented to pay over $1 million to resolve charges that he shorted U.S. stocks in companies planning follow-on offerings and then illegally purchased shares in the offerings to generate substantial profits at little to no risk. The Securities and Exchange Commission…
According to bankruptcy trustee H. Thomas Moran II, Life Partners Holdings (LPHIQ) ran a scam to bilk its investors. The Texas company, which sold over $1.3 billion of fractional interests in individual life insurance policies to over 20,000 individuals, is accused of unnecessarily demanding that a lot of investors pay…
A federal judge has ruled that the decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission to have an in-house judge in an insider trading case was “likely unconstitutional.” In the wake of his decision, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May agreed to put a temporary stop to the regulator’s administrative case…