The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Imperial Petroleum and a number of its executives and suppliers with involvement in an alleged renewable fuel production scheme. The complaint names the Indiana-based company, its CEO Jeffrey Wilson, three ex-owners of E-Biofuels, and New Jersey-located companies Cima Green LLC, Caravan Trading LLC,…
Investor Lawyers Blog
FINRA Arbitration Panel Orders Citigroup to Pay Senior Investor Couple $3.1M for Alleged Broker Fraud Related to “Selling Away” Practice
Citigroup Inc. (C) now has to pay Dr. Nasirdin Madhany and Zeenat Madhany $3.1 million over claims that the financial firm failed to properly supervise a broker, which caused the couple to sustain over $1 million losses. The broker is accused of directing them to invest in real estate developments…
JPMorgan Could Settle “London Whale” Fiasco for $800M
According to a source knowledgeable about negotiations, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) could pay at $800 million in penalties in the investigations conducted by regulators over the “London Whale” trading scandal. The regulators are the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the British Financial Conduct Authority, and the US…
SEC Charges ACI Capital Group Owner with New York Securities Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against Fredrick D. Scott, the New York money manager who owns investment advisory firm ACI Capital Group. The regulator contends that he falsely claimed that the company’s assets under management were as high as $3.7 billion to give him greater credibility when…
Broker Gets 1-Year Suspension From FINRA Over Inadequate Due Diligence and Supervision
Gary Mitchell Spitz, a broker and a registered principal of an Iowa-based brokerage firm, is suspended from associating with any FINRA member for a year and must pay a $5,000 fine. The SRO says that Spitz did not perform proper due diligence of an entity—a Reg D, Rule 506 private…
Registered Representatives Get FINRA Bar Following Securities Fraud Allegations
Texas Registered Rep Under Investigation for Financial Fraud Declined to Turn in Supplementary Documents Conrad Tambalo Bautista, a registered representative in Texas, is now barred from associating with any other Financial Industry Regulatory Authority member in any capacity. While not denying or admitting to the SRO’s findings, Bautista agreed to…
Foremost Trading LLC Must Pay $400K to CFTC for Supervisory Violations
Foremost Trading LLC has settled the securities charges filed against it by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The regulator accused the introducing broker of failing to properly supervise the handling of specific trading accounts by employees, agents, and officers. To settle, Foremost Trading must pay a $400K civil penalty…
VSR Financial Services Agrees to Pay FINRA $550,000 Fine Over Inadequate Supervision Allegations Involving Non-Conventional Investments
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is fining VSR Financial Services Inc. $550,000 over claims that the firm did not set up, keep up, and enforce a supervisory system that was reasonable over its sale of non-conventional investments. The SRO says that the firm did not properly monitor concentrated client positions…
FINRA Fines Santander Investment Securities Inc. $350,000 For Not Supervising Foreign Fund Offerings
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is fining Santander Investment Securities Inc. $350,000 over allegations that the brokerage firm failed to adequately supervise foreign fund offerings. The SRO says that the broker-dealer did not have a system in place to properly oversee communications between brokers, a registered firm principal, non-registered employees,…
Five Years After Lehman’s Bankruptcy, How is the US Financial System Doing Now?
It was nearly five years ago on September 15, 2008 when the public learned that Lehman Brothers had gone bankrupt, resulting in billions of dollars of losses on a financial system already struggling with a housing market that was failing, as well as a growing credit crisis. Also, Merrill Lynch…