The Chicago high-frequency trading firm HTG Capital Partners is suing rival traders, claiming that “John Doe defendants” engaged in spoofing to manipulate the market. The illegal practice was outlawed in 2010 under the Dodd-Frank Act. Spoofing involves attempting to deceive market participants into thinking large orders for futures contracts are…
Bruce Wilkerson, the former tackle of the Green Bay Packer, has been awarded $2 million against Resource Horizons Group. The ex-NFL player lost $650,000 in an alleged Ponzi scam run by Robert Gist, an alleged rogue broker at the Georgia-based financial firm. Unfortunately for Wilkerson the former pro football player…
Even though the commercial real estate industry has recently rallied, shares of the nontraded real estate investment trust CNL Lifestyle Properties Inc. continue to plummet. According to the nontraded REIT’s filing with the SEC, as of the end of 2014 its board of directors approved a $5.20/share valuation—that’s a 24%…
A letter to the SEC from consumer groups claims that the agency is not meeting its obligation to make sure that retail investors are getting the protections they need. The Consumer Federation of America, Americans for Financial Reform, Fund Democracy, Consumer Action, Public Citizen, and AFL-CIO gave an outline of…
Nomura Holdings (NMR), one of 18 financial institutions (including Goldman Sachs (GS), Deutsche Bank (DB), Bank of America (BAC), and J.P. Morgan (JPM)) that was sued by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for allegedly misleading Freddie Mac (FMCC) and Fannie Mae (FNMA) about the risks of mortgage-backed securities leading up…
Matthew Katke, formerly of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) and Nomura Holdings (NMR) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud for his involvement in a multi-million dollar bond scam to bilk customers. As part of his deal he will cooperate with prosecutors into its investigation of…
Adam Nash, the CEO of Wealthfront, claims that Charles Schwab & Co. (SCHW) is deceiving investors by claiming that Intelligent Portfolios, its automated investing platform, is free. Nash, whose company competes with Schwab’s new service, contends that the platform will cost consumers thousands of dollars in opportunity expenses involving expensive…
A panel of U.S. Judges says that Charles Schwab & Co. (SCHW) must face a lawsuit brought by Northstar Financial Advisors Inc. The investment advisory firm claims that Schwab invested the assets of a bond-index fund in high-risk mortgage debt prior to the financial crisis. The plaintiff is proposing that…
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York says that Mark Evan Bloom and his North Hills Management, LLC (NHM) must together pay a $26 million civil penalty for running North Hills LP, a fraudulent commodity pool, and misappropriating customer monies. It was in June 2010 that…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging H.D. Vest Investment Securities with violating customer protection rules. The regulator contends that the Texas-based broker-dealer did not adequately supervise registered representatives that are accused of misappropriating customer monies. H.D. Vest will pay a penalty to settle the charges. It has consented to…