Investor Lawyers Blog

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…

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…

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),…

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…

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…

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…

Cushing Royalty & Income Fund (NYSE:SRF), an exchange-traded fund that traded at $25 in February 2012 ,currently trades at less than $5. It is a leveraged fund which invests in oil and gas royalty trusts that was reportedly sold in some cases to elderly and conservative retirees who did not understand the risky nature 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…

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…

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-…