Cantor Fitzgerald

Financial Advisor Admits to Stealing $1.6M From Family’s Trusts
Brian Keenan, an ex-financial advisor, has pleaded guilty to criminal charges accusing him to stealing over $1.6M from three trusts belonging to members of the same family. Keenan had been employed with Train Babcock Advisors from about 5/2007 to 8/2012. It was during this time that the former financial adviser stole over $1.6M from the beneficiaries of three trusts.

Not only did Keenan take their money, but he also spent the funds on his own expenses. He set up a joint checking account under his name and the name of one of the beneficiaries, and he issued over 40 checks from the trust accounts to the joint account. The beneficiary under whose name he co-opened the account did not have access to it.

Issuing a statement about the financial fraud case, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance reminded the public that a financial adviser’s main duty is to act in a client’s best interest. Vance said that rather than fulfilling that obligation, Keenan took advantage of his clients. Keenan pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the First Degree.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is ordering Cantor Fitzgerald to pay $7.3 million for selling billions of unregistered microcap shares in 2011 and 2012. The firm is also facing sanctions for not having the proper supervisory /anti-money laundering programs in place to identify suspect activity or red flags related to microcap activity.

According to the self-regulatory organization, the Cantor Fitzgerald’s supervisory system was not designed in a reasonable enough manner to fulfill its obligation to assess whether the microcap securities it was liquidating for clients were SEC-registered or, if not, then were subject to a registration exemption. FINRA said that after Cantor Fitzgerald decided to broaden its microcap liquidity business in 2011, it did not make sure its supervisory system had a meaningful and reasonable way to determine whether the sales of these securities occurred in compliance with the law. Also, said the regulator, the firm did not provide proper guidance and training about how or when to look into whether a sale was exempt from SEC registration, and supervisors were not given the tools that they needed to identify when red flags were an indicator of unregistered, illegal distributions.
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Articles Tagged with Cantor Fitzgerald

Criminal Securities Fraud: Former Train Babcock Financial Adviser Pleads Guilty In $1.6M Family Trust Theft, Prosecutors Go After Former Cantor Fitzgerald Trader for RMBS Fraud, & Two NJ Traders Are Charged in $26M Stock Rigging Case

Cantor Fitzgerald to Pay $7.3M Over Microcap Sales