Articles Posted in Suitability

Investors in American Finance Trust and Lightstone Value Plus REIT V may have viable arbitration claims before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) if a stockbroker or investment advisor made an unsuitable recommendation to the investor to purchase them, or made a misleading sales presentation in recommending them. Publicly registered non-exchange traded REITs like American…

With increasing frequency retail investors are encountering scenarios in which they are offered an opportunity to invest in a private placement. A private placement – often referred to as a non-public offering – is an offering of a company’s securities that are not registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Under the federal securities…

For some time we have been blogging about non-traded REITS (and the real risks associated with investing in these complex investment vehicles. Many investors are familiar with exchange traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”). Pursuant to federal law, these companies which own and typically operate income-producing real estate, are required to distribute at least 90%…

With increasing frequency, given the current low interest rate environment, retail investors are steered into investing in products appearing to offer more advantageous yields than are available in traditional interest-bearing investments such as money market funds and CDs. One example is the publicly registered non-exchange traded real estate investment trust (“REIT”) or “non-traded REIT.” While…

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently fined Investors Capital Corporation $250,000 over the sale of unit investment trusts (UITs). Investors Capital did not admit or deny the allegations leading to the fine, but also agreed to pay $841,500 in restitution to customers, bringing its total payment to over $1 million. FINRA alleged that certain…

Investors Capital will pay $1.1 million in fines and restitution over the sale of unit investment trusts (UITs) to resolve an investigation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA). FINRA alleges that certain Investors Capital brokers recommended unsuitable short-term trading of UITs and other complex financial products known as steepener notes in accounts of…

Securities Litigation Consulting Group of Fairfax, Virginia has estimated that shareholders of non-traded REITs are about $50 billion worse off for having put money into non-traded REITs rather than exchange-traded REITs. The estimate is based on the difference between the performance of more than 80 non-traded REITs and the performance of a diversified portfolio of…

Douglas William Finlay, Jr., a stockbroker formerly associated with Cadaret, Grant & Co., has entered into a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent (AWC) with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to settle a case in which FINRA alleged that Finlay over-concentrated a customer’s assets in an unsuitable illiquid real estate investment trust (REIT). In…

Oil prices have rapidly tumbled to under $50 a barrel, from well over $100 a barrel, leaving prices at their lowest level since 2009. As a result of the plummet in oil prices, some investors whose portfolios were concentrated in investments whose value is linked to the price of oil or other energy products have…

Stockbroker arbitration lawyers are looking into accusations made against First Allied Securities, Inc. and broker Rami Yahalom regarding risky investments in AE Luxtera Investments II, LLC, a private technology start-up company. According to reports of a FINRA arbitration claim filed by investors, First Allied and Yahalom offered Luxtera to customers without disclosing sufficient information regarding…