Three more firms have decided to suspend trades of nontraded real estate investment trusts managed and backed by companies under Nicholas Schorsch’s control. The suspension comes following news of a $23 million accounting error involving American Realty Capital Properties Inc. (ARCP) which is Schorsch’s publicly treated REIT. ARCP owns Cole…
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS), UBS AG (UBS), (HSBC), Bank of America Corp (BAC), HSBC Holdings Plc, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), and Citigroup Inc. (C) will pay $4.3 billion in penalties to regulators in the United States and Europe for failing to stop traders from attempting to…
According to a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority-released survey of investors, 92% of participants believe that there needs to be a regulatory “cop” to protect investors. 94% said that regulators should use the latest technology and tools on the job. The survey is intended to evaluate how investors feel about regulatory…
According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Ameriprise Financial (AMP) broker Lorene Fairbanks, formerly with Merrill Lynch. Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, was recently sanctioned over allegations that she effected over 57 discretionary transactions for several customers without getting the required written authorization from the clients or the approval…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against California Attorney Richard Weed, Coleman Flaherty, and Thomas Brazil. The regulator contends that Weed facilitated a pump and dump scam involving CitySide Tickets Inc. stock that allowed Flaherty and Brazil to get millions of supposedly unrestricted shares. Investors were barraged…
More broker-dealers are suspending their sale of Nicholas Schorsch-affiliated nontraded real estate investment trusts. The suspensions are coming in the wake of the announcement of a $23 million accounting error involving American Reality Capital Properties Inc., which is the traded REIT under Schorsch’s control. Even after the error was found…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is charging the Detroit, Michigan suburb of Allen Park with fraud involving a municipal bond sale that was supposed to finance a movie studio project. Also charged with municipal bond fraud are ex-city Mayor Gary Burtka and former City Administrator Eric Waidelich. All three…
According to the Irving Firemen’s Relief and Retirement Fund, Tesco PLC and its directors misled investors, purportedly causing the Texas pension fund to buy the company’s stock at prices that were artificially inflated. Because of this, says the fund, it sustained substantial losses when Tesco announced in September that it…
The wealth-management arm of Morgan Stanley (MS) has set aside $50 million to pay back clients who didn’t get prospectuses after buying certain securities. The firm recently realized that a number of electronic prospectuses were never delivered to clients this year, as well as last. Brokerages are required to send…
According to sources, an announcement is expected this week regarding the sale of UBS Puerto Rico’s (UBS-PR) mutual funds operations to BlackRock Asset Management (BLK). The move, say sources, is part of the Swiss giant’s strategy to exit the island. To date, investors have filed nearly $1 billion in securities…