The Securities and Exchange Commission is charging Gurudeo “Buddy” Persaud,” an ex-Money Concepts registered representative, with financial fraud. The SEC alleges that while running a Ponzi scam involving transactions influenced by his astrological beliefs, Persaud lost $400,000 of investor money in trades while diverting at least $415,000 to cover his…
At a Senate Banking Subcommittee hearing last week, the topic of whether retail investors should get more access to IPO information to even out the initial public offering process for both institutional and ordinary investors was discussed. One of the reasons the hearing was called was to look at the…
The SEC has filed securities charges against Harbinger Capital Partners LLC and its owner Philip A. Falcone. The SEC is accusing them of a number of charges, including engaging in market manipulation and client asset misappropriation. Also facing SEC charges for allegedly helping them is former Harbinger COO Peter A.…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says that it is fining Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. $2.8M in the wake of certain alleged supervisory failures that the SRO says led to the financial firm billing clients unwarranted fees. The financial firm paid back the $32M in remediation to affected…
According to the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, R. Wayne Klein, the receiver of a Ponzi scam involving Winsome Investment Trust and US Ventures can go ahead with his claims to get back money from an investor who received more than she had invested. Judge Dale A.…
The U.S. District Court in Manhattan’s Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has approved a $40 million class action settlement in the residential mortgage-backed securities lawsuit against three individuals who used to be affiliated with Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (LEHMQ). The plaintiffs are pension and union groups, including Locals 302 and 612…
The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act’s Title II eliminates the general solicitation and general advertising ban for offers and sales of private offerings under 1933 Securities Act Rule 144A and Reg D Rule 506 as long as the offerings’ buyers are accredited investors. Now, five investor groups have written a…
A Financial Industry Arbitration panel has decided that ex-UBS Financial Services broker Pericles Gregoriou can keep $1 million of the signing bonus he was given when he joined the financial firm even though he left the company earlier than what the terms of the hiring agreement stipulated. Gregoriou worked for…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel is ordering Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to pay $5 million to Todd G. Vitale and John P. Paladino, two of the brokers that the financial firm had wooed from UBS AG (UBS) in 2008. The two brokers are alleging fraudulent misrepresentations, breach of…
Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee are cautioning that it is imperative that the SEC not ignore its rulemaking obligations that it was tasked under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act even as it seeks to implement the new capital formation statute.…