After being charged by the SEC with Regulation Best Interest violations relating to GWG, Western International Securities has now been censured and fined by FINRA for a different alternative investment product – non traded REITs. REITs – Real Estate Investment Trusts – are investment companies that invest in a portfolio…
FINRA censured, fined, and ordered restitution payments from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based Janney Montgomery Scott last month. The Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent (AWC) discussed how two of Janney’s advisors “recommended that 11 customers unsuitably concentrate their accounts in certain energy-sector securities, including master limited partnerships focused on the exploration…
FINRA recently issued a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent relating to J.P. Morgan broker Edward Turley from San Francisco, California that resulted in Mr. Turley being barred from the securities industry by FINRA. The letter alleges that Mr. Turley has been registered with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC since 2009,…
FINRA recently barred Oshkosh, Wisconsin broker Anthony (Tony) Liddle who was registered with Landolt Securities. The FINRA AWC states that it allegedly learned that Mr. Liddle had borrowed $1.8 million dollars from 13 customers, and that Mr. Liddle agreed to the FINRA bar. FINRA Rules and most state securities regulations…
The United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued a Staff Bulletin which discussed the use of sales contests or other sales incentives by FINRA Broker-Dealer firms in the context of SEC Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). Reg BI, 17 CFR 240-15l-1, specifically describes the “best interest” obligation as follows…
Shawn Edward Good, who was a registered broker with Morgan Stanley it its Wilmington, North Carolina office, was recently barred by FINRA by consent agreement. Mr. Good also has a pending SEC Complaint against him alleging the following involvement in a ponzi scheme: From 2012 until 2022 Mr. Good solicited…
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a Complaint charging a Broker-Dealer for the first time with a violation of the recently enacted Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). The subject of the Complaint was Western International Securities, and five of its registered brokers, Nancy Cole, Patrick Egan,…
Former Richmond, Virginia Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. financial advisor Warren E. Rowe Jr. was barred from the securities industry by FINRA recently after an investigation related to alleged loans taken from customers. According the the FINRA Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent found here, Mr. Rowe refused to provide documents…
The U.S. Department of Labor has sounded a warning regarding 401(k) plan investments in cryptocurrencies. In Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (issued March 10, 2022), 401(k) plan fiduciaries are urged to “exercise extreme care before they consider adding a cryptocurrency option to a 401(k) plan’s investment menu for plan participants.”…
Greco & Greco represented a retired Northern Virginia couple in a NASD arbitration seeking the recovery of savings lost by their stockbroker which they had intended to use to buy a new house. The broker had invested all of their life savings and house sale proceeds in the stock market…