The SEC has charged Albert Scipione with securities fraud allegedly involving stealing investor money in a day trading scam. Scipione, who is an unregistered broker, has already pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a parallel case. According to the SEC, Scipione and Matthew P. Ionno pursued investors to set up…
A class action securities case is accusing Goldman Sachs Group (GS), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBC), BASF SE (BAS), and Standard Bank Group Ltd. of manipulating prices for palladium and platinum. According to lead plaintiff Modern Settings LLC, the companies used insider information about sales orders and client purchases to make…
The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging HSBC Private Bank (HSBC) with violating U.S. federal securities laws. According to the regulator, the Swiss private banking arm did not register with the agency before providing clients in this country with cross-border brokerage and investment advisory services. HSBC Private Bank as agreed…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel said that USCA Capital Advisors LLC must pay over $3.8 million to 19 ExxonMobil retirees whose investments were mismanaged the Houston-based wealth management firm. The self-regulatory organization also says that the Texas investment advisory firm misled the investors about its trading strategy. It…
Wedbush Settles Market Access Violation Case for $2.44M Wedbush Securities has agreed to settle a market access violations case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by admitting to wrongdoing and paying $2.44 million. The brokerage firm has also agreed to hire an independent consultant. According to the SEC order,…
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2014 Annual Report to Congress on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program, the regulator issued nine whistleblower awards, including one $30 million award issued to one whistleblower. The report states that over 40% of those who received awards were either former or present employees of…
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) will pay an $88 million fine to Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority for the 2012 computer system failure that left millions of customers without account access for weeks. Some 6.5 million customers, which is about 10%…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is developing regulations that would make sure that mutual funds are liquid enough to satisfy client redemptions and money managers have a plan should a fund fail. Part of the regulator’s strategy may include limiting how mutual funds are allowed to place in assets…
Former Stockbroker Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading in IBM Case Daryl Payton, an ex-trader at Euro Pacific Capital Inc., has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Payton was involved in an insider trading scam that revolved around software manufacturer SPSS Inc., which IBM acquired in 2009. A U.S.…
Puerto Rico’s Electrical Power Authority, also known as PREPA, is experiencing a surge in overdue accounts. According to a report from an FTI Consulting subsidiary, since 2012, the U.S. territory’s electrical authority has seen a 219% increase in the number of company and residential accounts that are at least 120…