Bitcoin, and the exchanges that provide a space for trading Bitcoin, have received a lot of press lately. The Wall Street Journal reported on February 11, 2014 that the price of a Bitcoin dropped to approximately $650. This would be a significant drop from a trading high of over $1,100…
It was reported by Bloomberg News on Friday January 24, 2014 that there was a “massive selloff” in emerging markets that led to a decline of approximately 2% to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500. It is during such fast and sudden selloffs that underlying problems in public…
Just this past week, two brokerages units of Stifel Financial were ordered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) to pay more than $1 million related to the sale of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). Of the more than $1 million to be paid, $550,000 comes in the form…
As reported recently by the Wall Street Journal, investment in non-traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”) is at an all-time high and poised to continue to rise. Some estimates anticipate more than $18 billion to be invested in non-traded REITs by the end of this year. Solicited with the prospect…
As has been widely reported, Criminal charges were filed against SAC Capital Advisors LP, with accusations that the hedge-fund firm is guilty of a decade long “scheme” of insider trading. In total, prosecutors charged SAC Capital and its business units with a total of four counts of securities fraud and…
Maxwell B. Smith was sentenced to serve the next seven years in federal prison for operating a $9 million Ponzi scheme. Maxwell sold investments as a fund that made loans to nursing homes. Smith had previously plead guilty to several counts of mail fraud as well as money laundering. It…
Securities attorney Jenice Malecki spoke recently with Wealth Management at wsj.com‘s Caitlin Nish about what makes a strong investor claim against a broker and the steps that lead up to brokers having to defend themselves in arbitration. To watch the video click here. Investors who have lost money because of…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, (FINRA) issued a news release on March 4, 2013 announcing that it had fined Ameriprise Financing Services, Inc. and its affiliated clearing form American Enterprise Investment Services, Inc. $750,000 for failing to have reasonable supervisory systems in place to monitor wire transfer requests. In the…
It has been reported that New York based Citigroup has agreed to pay $730 million to settle claims that it misled investors with respect to nearly 50 bond and preferred stock offerings over a period of more than 24 months between 2006 and 2008. The investors’ claims were said to…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a news release on March 7, 2013 announcing that it had permanently barred Mr. Jeffrey Brett Rubin from the securities industry as a result of his unsuitable investment recommendations and unapproved securities transactions to 31 NFL Players. In FINRA’s news release and in…