A FINRA panel has expelled John Carris Investments LLC, along with Chief Executive Officer George Carris from the securities industry. Both are accused of suitability violations and fraud. According to the panel, Carris and JCI were reckless when selling shares of stock and promissory notes. They purportedly left out material…
Investor Lawyers Blog
Another Institutional Investor Fraud Lawsuit Accuses American Realty Capital Properties Of Violating Securities Laws
The New York City Retirement Systems and TIAA-CREF have joined other institutional investors in suing . They contend that the real estate investment trust violated federal securities laws when it allegedly made misleading and false statements that misrepresented the company’s business, as well as took part in a scam to…
Insider Trading News: SEC Sues Ex-Capital One Data Analysts, U.S. Attorney Bharara Wants Rehearing in Case Involving Overturned Convictions, and Judge Vacates Four Men’s Guilty Pleas
Ex-Capital Data One Analysts Are Defendants in SEC Insider Trading Lawsuit The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Nan Huang and Bonan Huang, two former Capital One data analysts, for insider trading. The regulator contends that the two of them used nonpublic data to trade in consumer retail companies’…
Former Canadian Broker’s Securities Fraud Conviction Involving U.S. Transactions is Upheld
The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld the securities fraud conviction of George Georgiou. The ex-Canadian broker was convicted of U.S. stock manipulation involving brokerage accounts in his native country and international locations. Georgiou, who appealed the conviction, said that under the U.S. Supreme Court…
Texas State Securities Board Was Special Prosecutor in $1M Securities Fraud Case
Alberto Alba Villareal was sentenced to five years behind bars for defrauding investors in a $1 million Texas securities fraud. Villareal was convicted of theft of property for stealing money. The funds he procured were supposed to go toward funding a new insurance company. The Texas State Securities Board was…
SEC Adopts Rules Improving Transparency in the Security-Based Swap Market
The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted rules mandating that security-based swap data repositories register with the regulator. They also prescribe public dissemination and reporting requirements for security-based swap transaction information. The rules were mandated under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s Title VII and they are…
Investment Adviser Fraud Cases Lead to Civil Charges, Criminal Convictions, and Investor Losses
SEC Accuses Elm Tree Investment Advisors, its Founder, of $17M Securities Fraud The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against Elm Tree Investment Advisors LLC and its founder Frederic Elm for running a Florida-based securities scam that raised over $17 million in a little over a year. The…
Standard & Poor’s to Pay Almost $80 Million to Resolve SEC Charges Over Ratings Fraud Involving CMBSs
Standard & Poor’s has agreed to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges accusing the credit rating agency of fraudulent misconduct when rating certain commercial mortgage-backed securities. As part of the settlement, S & P will pay close to $80 million—$58 million to resolve the regulator’s case, plus $12 million…
FINRA Fines Fidelity $350K for Overcharging More than 20,000 Clients $2.4M
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says that Fidelity Investments must pay $350,000 for overcharging thousands of clients $2.4 million for transactions involving fee-based accounts in its Institutional Wealth Services Group. The overcharges are said to have occurred from 1/06 to 9/13. The group offers brokerage and trading services to investment…
UBS Settles SEC Dark Pool Case for $14M
A UBS AG (UBS) subsidiary has consented to pay $14.4 million to resolve Securities and Exchange Commission claims that the firm committed violations involving the marketing and operation of its dark pool. The subsidiary, UBS Securities LLC, is accused of placing some players at an advantage in its alternative trading…