Español Inner
Español
Skyscrapers at midtown New York City with the East River on the background

Articles Posted in FINRA Arbitration

Published on:

by

Investors in securities sold by GWG Holdings (“GWGH”), including L Bonds, preferred stock, and common stock listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol GWGH, may have legal claims, including possible claims if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the stockbroker or advisor.

Money Whirlpool
GWGH  L Bonds are high-yield life insurance bonds used to finance the purchase of life insurance on the secondary market. Any type of investment in the secondary life insurance market is an extremely risky investment.  Further, default on the L Bonds seems to be imminent. According to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), GWG has halted the sale of the L Bonds and failed to issue $10.35 million of interest payments and $3.25 million of principal payments to L Bond investors by the January 15, 2022 due date. If these payments are not made by February 14, 2022, GWG will be in default.

While GWCH reportedly has close to $1 billion in tangible assets, the company also has over $1.5 billion in outstanding L Bonds, plus $327.7 million in senior credit facilities. On August 1, 2021, GWG disclosed that its previous Annual and Quarterly reports for 2019 and 2020 were not reliable after consulting with the SEC’s Office of the Chief Accountant. GWGH  also has announced that it would be late in completing and filing its Annual 10-K report with the SEC, which is due March 31, 2022.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

Investors in funds formerly managed by defunct Chicago options trading firm LJM Partners, including the LJM Preservation & Growth Fund,  may have litigation or arbitration claims against stockbrokers or investment advisers who sold them or placed their funds in the LJM funds.

financial charts and stockbroker
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently took regulatory action against brokerage firm Triad Advisors LLC in connection with sales of the LJM Preservation & Growth Fund.  According to the Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent (AWC) Triad AWC, in December 2021 FINRA censured and fined Triad Advisors LLC $195,000 regarding the brokerage firm’s failure to supervise their brokers’ recommendations of LJM Preservation & Growth Fund. Triad Advisors LLC also agreed to pay $510,256.57 in restitution. Triad representatives sold $2,267,000 in LJM Preservation & Growth Fund to 58 customers.

According to the FINRA allegations, between September 12, 2016 to February 1, 2018, Triad failed to reasonably supervise representatives’ recommendations of the LJM Preservation & Growth Fund. FINRA also found that Triad Advisors LLC allowed the sale of LJM Preservation & Growth Fund without conducting reasonable due diligence and without a sufficient understanding of its risks and features.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

Investors in securities sold by GWG Holdings (“GWGH”), including L Bonds and common stock listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol GWGH, may have legal claims, including possible claims if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the stockbroker or advisor.

Money Maze
GWGH recently failed to make a scheduled interest payment of over $10 million due on certain securities sold to investors known as “L Bonds”.  GWGH’s common stock price has also plummeted by over half in 2022, from an opening price of $9.80 a share on January 3, 2022 to a closing price of $4.11 a share on January 25, 2022.

GWGH is a Dallas-based financial services firm that offers a variety of ‘services including life insurance and alternative investments. GWGH sold millions of dollars’ worth of L Bonds over the past several years, including sales to public investors through brokerage firms.  L Bonds are a financial product that purportedly offers higher yields than typical publicly traded bonds. L Bonds are sold by life insurance companies that buy back the policies from policyholders. The bonds are supposed to help finance the purchase of the policies. According to a prospectus published by GWGH for the offering of $2 billion of L Bonds, the bonds were sold with varying maturity terms ranging from 2 years to 7 years, with interest rates ranging from 5.50% to 8.50%.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

Investors in Moody National REIT II (“Moody II”)  may have FINRA arbitration claims, if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the stockbroker or advisor.

Money_REIT-640x401-4-300x188
Moody II announced in August 2021 that its Board had made the decision to postpone the valuation of its shares. Considering that the non-traded REIT has not updated its net asset value (NAV) since December 2019, investors may have cause for concern that the shares’ value has dropped.   The last estimate of Moody II’s net asset value (NAV) per share- which now seems hopelessly unrealistic- was $23.50 a share as of late 2019.

Moody II is a non-traded real estate investment trust (non-traded REIT).  According to secondary market quotes, Moody II shares have decreased in value   Investors who were relying on Moody II’s most recent (but now nearly two-year-old) estimated NAV (net asset value) of $23.50 a share announced by its sponsor could be in for an unwelcome surprise, as shares have reportedly been sold on the limited secondary market for prices as low as between $5.50 and $6.00 a share during 2021.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

Investors in Hospitality Investors Trust (“HIT”), formerly known as American Realty Capital Hospitality Trust or ARC Hospitality, may have FINRA arbitration claims, if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the stockbroker or advisor.Money_REIT-640x401-2-300x188 Money_REIT-640x401-3-300x188

HIT, a public, non-traded real estate investment trust (“REIT”) with a focus on hospitality properties in the United States, declared bankruptcy earlier this year.   Originally sold for $25/share, HIT seen a decline in share price over the last few years.  In March 2021, secondary market service Central Trade & Transfer (CTT) reported trades in HIT for prices as low as 46 cents a share. In May 2021, Hospitality Investors Trust Operating Partnership, LP filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.   HIT investors later learned that under the bankruptcy plan, their stocks will be canceled and they would be getting contingent cash payments of no more than $6/share.  In July 2021, a bankruptcy court in Delaware approved the Chapter 11 restructuring plan.

HIT had previously announced a decrease in its estimated net asset value (“NAV”) to $8.35 a share, down from $9.21 per share.  As a publicly registered non-traded REIT, HIT was permitted to sell securities to the investing public at large, including numerous unsophisticated retail investors who bought shares upon the recommendation of a broker or money manager.  Original investors of HIT could purchase shares at $25.00 per share.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

Investors in Sila Realty Trust Inc. (“Sila”), a publicly registered, non-traded real estate investment trust (formerly known as Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT II) may have FINRA arbitration claims, if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the stockbroker or advisor.

Money_REIT-640x401-1-300x188
Sila recently sent a letter to shareholders recommending they reject an unsolicited tender offer by CMG Partners and its affiliates, CMG Income Fund II LLC, CMG Liquidity Fund LLC and Blue River Capital LLC.  Under the tender offer, CMG is offering to buy up to300,000 shares of Sila stock for $3.57 each.  This price is approximately 59 percent less than the REIT’s most recent net asset value per share of $8.69, announced in December 2020. CMG’s offer expires on July 15, 2021, unless extended.  As well as being much lower than Sila’s estimated NAV per share, CMG’s offer price is also lower than certain reported secondary market transactions, which have reportedly taken place at prices over $6.00 a share during 2021.

Sila  merged with another REIT known as with Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT Inc. in late 2019.  Sila recently announced plans to sell its 29-property data center portfolio to subsidiaries of Mapletree Industrial Trust, a REIT listed on the Singapore Exchange, for more than $1.3 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed in one or more closings during the third quarter of 2021.  As of March 31, 2021, Sila reportedly owned 153 real estate properties, consisting of 29 data centers and 124 healthcare properties located in 70 markets across the United States with a total purchase price of approximately $3.2 billion, including capital expenditures on development properties placed into service.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

Investors in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (“PECO”) may have FINRA arbitration claims, if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the stockbroker or advisor.

Money Whirlpool
PECO, an internally managed real estate investment trust focused on grocery-anchored shopping centers,  recently released the preliminary results of its tender offer to purchase up to 17.4 million shares of common stock from public shareholders at a price of $5.75 per share. Shareholders reportedly tendered approximately 13.5 million shares, and PECO reportedly expects to purchase 100 percent of the tendered shares for approximately $77.7 million beginning on or about January 7, 2021.

PECO also has announced a one-for-four reverse stock split, which reportedly is expected to take place around March 9, 2021, and as a result, every four shares of issued and outstanding common stock will be automatically combined and converted into one share of common stock. A corresponding reverse split of the outstanding OP units will also be effective at that time.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

Investors in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (“PECO”) may have FINRA arbitration claims, if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the stockbroker or advisor.

Money Maze
PECO was formed in Maryland in October 2009 as a non-traded real estate investment trust (or “REIT”), to acquire grocery-anchored shopping centers. In November 2018, PECO officially merged with Phillips Edison Grocery Center REIT II (“Phillips Edison II), a move that caused significant loss to its investors. Investors who purchased shares in PECO at the initial offering acquired shares at $10.00 per share, and while PECO’s sponsor has said that it currently has an estimated net asset value (“NAV”) of $8.75 per share, shares on the limited private secondary market have reportedly traded between $4.50 and $5.50 per share in recent months.

Making matters worse, in March 2020 PECO announced that it would suspended monthly distributions, as well as share repurchases or redemptions, albeit indicating that these  suspensions will be temporary.  As measures to guard against liquidity issues, PECO also reportedly borrowed $200 million from a revolving credit facility and announced plans to reduce expenses.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

Investors in Hospitality Investors Trust Inc. (“HIT”), a publicly registered non-traded REIT formerly known as American Realty Capital Hospitality Trust, may have FINRA arbitration claims, if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the broker or financial advisor.

Wastebasket Filled with Crumpled Dollar Bills
HIT owns a portfolio of hotel properties throughout North America, including various Hilton-, Marriott- and Hyatt- branded hotels, within the select service and full-service markets.  As of December 31, 2018, HIT reportedly owned 144 hotels.  The REIT’s offering was declared effective in January 2014 and suspended sales activities in November 2015 after raising $903 million in investor equity, according to Summit Investment Research.

In April 2017, HIT changed its name from American Realty Capital Hospitality Trust to HIT after restructuring to become a standalone self-managed REIT as well as a partnership with Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners II.  Prior to the restructure and name change, HIT had an agreement with American Realty Capital Hospitality Advisors LLC, and affiliate of AR Global Trust II.

Continue reading
Published on:

by

 
Investors in Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III (“GAH REIT III”), may have FINRA arbitration claims, if their investment was recommended by a financial advisor who lacked a reasonable basis for the recommendation, or if the nature of the investment was misrepresented by the broker or financial advisor.

Money Maze
GAH REIT III recently announced that it will cut its annual distribution rate in half to $0.30 a share, from $0.60 a share, citing the possible impact of the COVID 19 epidemic on its operations  GAH REIT III also suspended its share repurchase plan.

GAH REIT III is a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust (“REIT”) incorporated in January 2013 as a Maryland REIT and is registered with the SEC.  As such. GAH REIT III was permitted to sell securities to the investing public at large, including retail investors who bought shares on the recommendation of a broker or money manager.

Continue reading
Contact Information
60 E 42nd St 46th floor
New York , NY 10165
Phone: (866) 966-9598 Phone: (212) 838-3221 Fax: (212) 937-3139

Attorney Advertising

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2017 – 2024, Law Office of Christopher J. Gray, P.C.
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design