The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced that 16 current and-ex State Farm VP Management Corp. registered representatives have settled charges of alleged misconduct regarding FINRA’s Continuing Education Requirements for taking tests. FINRA says that the representatives have agreed to fines ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 and suspensions from 30 days…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit says that a district court improperly applied an “identity theft enhancement” when calculating the prison sentence of Bryan Hawes, a rogue investment adviser who had pled guilty to two counts of mail fraud. As a result, Judge Marjorie Rendell vacated Hawes’s…
The Association for Financial Professionals is calling on Securities and Exchange Commission head Christopher Cox to use the SEC’s authority to push for the reform of the credit rating agencies. In a letter from the AFP, CEO Jim Kaitz urged Cox to use the authority that Congress granted the SEC…
Two Brazilian nationals have been indicted on money laundering and other charges related to an alleged $50 million international penny stock scam that took money from many international investors. The two defendants, Marcos Macchione and Rodrigo Molina, face charges of money laundering, conspiracy, and participating in illegal financial transactions. The…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) conjures thoughts of jack-booted cops looking to “perp-walk” those who take advantage investors. Yet, FINRA is just the new name of the National Association of Securities Dealers. The NASD was, and FINRA is, a non-profit organization of all securities dealers, with a structure similar…
Merrill Lynch & Co. has publicly opened the door to what many believe could be an even larger problem to the credit markets than the widely publicized sub-prime mortgage debacle – the little understood and sledom discussed “swaps” market. Perhaps the world’s most high-profile financial firm, Merrill – itself a…
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin is subpoenaing Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, & Smith Inc., UBS Securities, and Bank of America Investments because it wants information about the companies’ involvement in selling auction-rate market securities to retail investors. The companies are all registered Massachusetts broker dealers. Galvin issued the…
After weeks in limbo, some holding auction rate securities may gain some insight about their fate this weekend as UBS reports it will be “pricing” ARS securities in its customers’ accounts. Brokerage firms and other financial institutions sold many ARS securities as comparable to money market funds, commercial paper and…
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has concluded that Mouayad Shammami, an investor that is accusing brokerage firm Broad Street Securities Inc. of fraudulently inducing him to change his investment goals, must arbitrate this dispute rather than pursue the matter through the courts. In 2004, Shammami…
REIT Manager W.P. Carey & Co has reached a $30M settlement agreement with the SEC over antifraud charges. According to the SEC, W.P. Carey, its ex-CFO John J. Park, and its former chief accounting officer Claude Fernandez paid $10 million in undisclosed compensation to a brokerage firm that sold real…