On October 13, 2015, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ordered Santander Securities, LLC to pay $4.3 million in restitution to customers who were solicited to purchase Puerto Rican Municipal Bonds (PRM Bonds). Santander was also fined $2 million for supervisory failures related to sale of PRM Bonds, and an additional $121,000 in restitution to…
Continue reading ›On September 9, 2015 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged financial advisor Dawn J. Bennett with exaggerating the amount of assets managed by her firm, Bennett Group Financial Services, LLC, as well as the investment returns the firm obtained for investors. Bennett began working in the securities industry in 1987. From 2006, until 2009,…
Continue reading ›John P. Jones (Jones) was recently sanctioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) alleging that Jones engaged in trading five unsuitable, speculative private placements securities in a customer’s account. Jones was suspended for six months and fined $15,000. Jones entered the securities industry in 1986, from August 2003 to December 2007 he was registered…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has charged former J.P. Turner & Company, LLC (J.P. Turner) broker, Leonard Allen Goldberg with multiple forms of securities fraud including: unsuitable mutual fund switching/trading, exercising of discretion without written authorization, falsification of electronic records, mutual fund switch forms, and new account documents, and forgery of customer signatures. Goldberg first…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) suspended California based broker Walter Rae Chao (Chao) for two years and fined him $30,000 for participating in unauthorized private transactions while he was employed with LPL Financial (LPL). Specifically, according to FINRA, Chao solicited investments from LPL clients to purchase interests in a Facebook special purchase vehicle (SPV),…
Continue reading ›Law Office of Christopher J. Gray, P.C. is currently investigating claims against Sigma Financial Corporation (“Sigma”) regarding unsuitable sales of Mission Residential (now Middleburg Management) TIC (Tenant-In-Common) and DST (Delaware Statutory Trust) investments. Sigma is an independent broker dealer, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The firm offers comprehensive investment planning services, including estate planning and…
Continue reading ›On September 24, 2015, LPL Financial (“LPL”) reached a settlement with the North American Securities Administration Association (“NSAA”) to pay a $1.43 million fine for failure to implement an adequate supervisory system and failure to enforce it’s written rules regarding non-traded REITs. The $1.43 million fine will be distributed among 48 states, the District of…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently sanctioned broker Daniel Grieco based allegations that Grieco made unsuitable recommendations of non-traditional exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to customers. Non-traditional and “leveraged” ETFs can pose significant risks not presented by ordinary ETFs. Traditional ETFs often seek to mirror an index or benchmark, and track the performance of the asset…
Continue reading ›A FINRA arbitration panel awarded $1 million to an investor whose portfolio was over-concentrated in UBS Puerto Rico closed-end bond funds. The 66 year-old conservative investor reportedly “lost $737,000 of his nearly $1 million portfolio when the value of UBS’ Puerto Rico municipal bond funds collapsed in the fall of 2013.” When the client expressed…
Continue reading ›Inland American REIT has changed its name to Inventrust Properties Corp. In addition, the Company’s SEC fillings report a recent tender offer of $2.00 per unit from Mackenzie Realty. The $2.00 a share tender offer represents a sharp dropoff from Inland American’s initial offering price of $10.00 a share. Inland American is an enormous company-…
Continue reading ›
