The Securities and Exchange Commission has sanctioned thirteen financial firms, including UBS Financial Services (UBS), Charles Schwab and Co. (SCHW), J.P. Morgan Securities (JPM), and Stifel Nicolaus & Co. (SF), for the improper sales of Puerto Rican junk bonds. A $100,00 minimum denomination had been established in junk bonds of…
National Planning Holding, a broker-dealer network, says that it has temporarily stopped offering American Realty Capital Properties Inc.’s (ARCP) non-traded real estate investment trusts for sale. The move comes after the real estate investment trust, run by Nicholas Schorsch, disclosed a $23 million accounting mistake. American Realty Capital is the…
James “Jeb” Bashaw, the former star financial adviser at LPL Financial (LPLA) from Texas is now registered with International Assets Advisory, a small brokerage firm. LPL Financial fired Bashaw last month over allegations involving selling away. Then, for a while this month, he was with Wunderlich Securities Inc. Selling away…
Fannie Mae (FNMA) and its shareholders have reached a $170M settlement in a lawsuit accusing the entity of misleading the plaintiffs about its risk management, finances, and mortgage exposure prior to its seizure by the U.S. government during the financial crisis of 2008. Now, a court must approve the agreement.…
In its third-quarter earnings reports this week, UBS noted that claims involving its Puerto Rico closed-end municipal bond funds are reaching close to $1 billion. That is a significant jump from the $600M mark those cases reached during the second quarter of this year, and this shows that the number…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has added the children and wives of Texans Charles and Samuel Wily to the fraud case that has already rendered a $187.7M award, plus interest, in its favor. The move would come following Sam Wiley’s decision to file for bankruptcy earlier this month. Over…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is fining and censuring Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated $2.5M for not setting up, maintaining, and enforcing supervisory procedures and systems related to certain areas, including Regulation SHO. The self-regulatory organization is fining Merrill Lynch Professional Clearing Corp. $3.5M, also for Reg SHO…
Noah Myers waved his right to indictment and pleaded guilty to defrauding clients of over $2M. The investment adviser admitted to his involvement in a cherry picking scam. Myers, 43, owns MiddleCove Capital LLC, which is located in Connecticut. He faces up to 20 years behind bars and a maximum…
The European Commission has found that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), JPMorgan (JPM), UBS AG (UBS) and Credit Suisse (CS) engaged in cartel behavior. Except for RBS, which received immunity from having to pay any fines by disclosing the cartel conduct, the other banks were fined $120 million for their…
Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission put out a Risk Alert reminding brokerage firms about their duties when they take part in unregistered transactions for customers. The guidance came, along with the announcement that the agency had filed an enforcement action against former and current E*TRADE Financial…