The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has sent its proposed rule change regarding BrokerCheck links to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Per the new measure, a broker-dealer would have to make sure that a BrokerCheck link is made accessible on its home page. The firm would also have to make…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Enforcement Division has filed fraud charges against William Quigley, the former compliance director of Trident Partners Ltd. According to the regulator, Quigley solicited investors to purchase stock in start-ups that were supposedly about to go public, as well as well-known companies, but never actually…
After pleading guilty to two criminal counts of selling unregistered securities, The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the agency primarily charged with regulating the nation’s stockbrokers, finally barred former stockbroker, Jerry A. Cicolani, Jr. (“Cicolani”) from the securities industry. According to FINRA’s website, “FINRA has permanently barred [Cicolani] from acting…
A Texas man was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to securities fraud. At the time of the fraud, Daniel Lutz Bergin was an equity trader for Cushing MLP Asset Management, which is located in Dallas. While at the registered investment adviser, Bergin had discretionary assets under…
William Galvin, the securities regulator of Massachusetts, is suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Galvin is seeking to stop new rules that he believes restricts state oversight of stock offerings made by emerging and small companies. With the newly adopted rules, offerings starting at $20 million would only need…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is ordering Deutsche Bank AG (DB) to pay $55M to resolve charges accusing the firm of misstating financial reports during the peak of economic crisis. The regulator believes that the financial institution did not factor the material risk for possible losses of billions of…
SEC Makes Proposals to Enhance Disclosure and Reporting by Investment Companies and Advisers The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing forms, amendments, and rules that will update and improve the way investment firms and their advisers disclose and report information. This would enhance the quality of data available to…
Nationwide Life Insurance Co. has ben ordered to pay an $8 million penalty to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for purposely delaying variable annuity and life insurance policy orders and that this led to company’s failure to price these orders in a timely manner. From 1995 to 2011 clients…
The SEC is accusing investment advisory firm Gray Financial, its co-CEO Robert C. Hubbard IV, and president/founder Laurence O. Gray with fraud. The regulator claims that the three of them of breached their duty to clients by directing certain pension funds to invest in a firm-offered alternative investment even while…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Panel (“FINRA”) has ordered UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico and UBS Wealth Management (collectively “UBS”) to pay a client from Puerto Rico $1 million to repurchase the Puerto Rico portfolio of proprietary bond funds sold to him and many other Puerto Rico investors.…