The North American Securities Administrators Association and the AARP are inviting senior investors to take part in their “Free Lunch Seminar Monitor program.” Both organizations say the program will give investors a chance to report any unscrupulous promoters of inappropriate investments to security authorities in their state. According to statistics,…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has announced that SunTrust Investment Services Inc. has agreed to pay a $700,000 fine to settle allegations that it engaged in supervisory violations involving its fee-based brokerage business and charged excessive commissions on low-priced stocks. By agreeing to settle, the investment firm is not admitting…
Banorte Securities International, Ltd. has agreed to a $1.1 million fine to settle charges that it recommended to customers that they buy Class B off-shore mutual fund shares even though they would have benefited more financially by buying Class A shares. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced the settlement agreement…
Securities fraud attorneys at the stockbroker fraud law firm of Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas LTD LLP are investigating claims for clients of Ray Londo, Londo Financial Group, and Linsco Private Ledger (LPL). The firm is asking any clients of Ray Londo that lent him or anyone else in his…
This month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit against five World Group Securities brokers for allegedly pushing investors into refinancing their homes with subprime mortgages. The SEC is accusing the mortgage brokers of taking advantage of the clients’ lack of education, modest financial means, and poor…
Goldman Sachs is applying for a New York bank charter. The application is one of the steps the New York-based investment bank is making in its move to become a commercial bank. Goldman’s competitors, Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and JP Morgan Chase are banks that have a national…
Earlier this month, a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel found Charles Schwab Corp. liable for $542,340 in an investor claim against the company over its YieldPlus short-term bond fund. This case is one of numerous individual arbitration and class action lawsuits against the San Francisco-based investment firm because of the…
Five school districts in Wisconsin are suing Stifel Nicolaus & Co., Inc. and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) for losses incurred after the bank and brokerage firm sold the districts “Credit Default Swaps,” (also called “CDS” or complex credit derivatives) worth $200 million resulting in some $150 million in losses.…
A recent New York Times article about the current US financial crisis refers to an April 28, 2004 meeting involving members of the Securities and Exchange Commission. During the meeting, the SEC members considered an urgent request made by large investment banks for an exemption from an old regulation limiting…
A source in investment banking who is choosing to remain anonymous says that the futures of nearly 7,000 financial advisors and registered representatives responsible for generating some $1.3 billion in fees and commissions in 2007 will be decided by American International Group Inc’s large scale asset sale. Details of the…