Tag Archives: Boca Raton Unsuitable Investments Lawyer
Customers Sue LPL Financial Over Unsuitable ETFs And Mutual Funds
Jane Ruth Everingham (CRD: 1727956) is a former registered representative of LPL Financial LLC from Larkspur, California. According to Everingham’s FINRA BrokerCheck disclosures, she is currently, or has been previously, subject of eight customer-initiated, investment-related arbitrations containing allegations of her sales practice violations including unsuitability, excessive fees, and breach of fiduciary duty. The customers’… Read More »
Morgan Stanley Settles Customer Arbitrations Over Unsuitability
Scott J. Donato (CRD: 2336331) is a prior registered representative of Morgan Stanley from the Miami, Florida area who was terminated on March 21, 2017. He disclosed on Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) BrokerCheck that his activities have resulted in a customer-initiated investment-related arbitration dated October 27, 2017. The arbitration alleges that Donato engaged… Read More »
FINRA Bans Broker for “Churning” Customer Accounts
A stockbroker has an ethical and legal duty to make “suitable” investments with your money. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the self-regulatory organization for brokerage firms in the United States, explains this duty in its Rule 2111. Specifically, the rule says a broker must “have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended… Read More »
Judge Allows SEC Case Against Accused Oil & Gas Scam to Proceed
On December 31, 2014, a federal judge in Dallas denied a motion to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint against a Texas man accused of defrauding investors out of nearly $10 million. SEC v. Couch The defendant, Charles Couch, owns Couch Oil & Gas, Inc. (COG) According to the SEC’s complaint, Couch and… Read More »
The Basics of “Secured Notes”
Investors should always be skeptical about complicated-sounding investments that promise to minimize or eliminate risk. One such type of investment is known as a “structured note.” This describes any hybrid security that includes multiple financial products. Structured Notes Structured notes are linked to some other index or security. Here is a simple example of… Read More »
SEC Charges New York Real Estate Investor with Securities Fraud
On December 12th, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged a New York man with securities fraud in connection with his now-bankrupt real estate investment company. The SEC claims David L. Fleet, former owner of Cornerstone Homes, Inc., cheated over 300 “mostly elderly, unsophisticated investors” out of more than $16 million. The SEC is… Read More »
WSJ Warns Florida Seniors About Broker Free Lunch Seminars
The Wall Street Journal recently analyzed where most of nation’s estimated 630,000 stockbrokers work and found at least five “hot spots” in Florida alone. The Journal identified Palm Beach County as having “one of the highest rates of troubled brokers” in the country, largely due to the presence of a high number of persons… Read More »
Federal Prosecutors Charge Operator of Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme
On Nov. 6, the United States Attorney’s office in Manhattan charged Trendon Shavers with securities fraud in connection with his defunct Bitcoin Savings & Trust, an alleged Ponzi scheme targeting users of the popular virtual currency Bitcoin. Shavers was arrested at his home in Texas. Back in August, a federal judge rejected Shavers’ argument… Read More »
SEC Attacks Social Media-Based Investment Schemes
On November 12, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced administrative charges against two Indian nationals who allegedly ran a “high-yield investment scheme” designed to lure customers through social media. According to an SEC order, the Commission’s Division of Enforcement believes the two men utilized a highly trafficked website, together with YouTube, Twitter, Facebook… Read More »
SEC Provides Hedge Fund Data to Congress
In 2010, in response to the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the federal government passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Dodd-Frank made a number of important changes to financial regulation in the United States, including to reporting requirements of private funds like private equity funds or hedge funds. Private equity typically involves… Read More »