Michael J. Breton of Massachusetts was banned from the securities industry by the SEC according to a recent InvestmentNews report. According to the report, Mr. Breton cost his clients $1.3 million by “cherry-picking” trades – i.e., placing trades through one central account then allocating the profitable trades to himself and…
It was reported by AdvisorHub on January 24, 2017 that the firm terminated three high producing brokers who were being investigated internally. The three brokers were members of the PC Wealth Management Group. The first broker, Michael Paesano, was reported to have been terminated over “concerns” of his “exercise of discretion…
Financial industry stakeholders are all locked in a guessing game about the fate of the DOL Fiduciary rule in the new Trump administration. In 2015, the Obama administration and the DOL had introduced the Fiduciary rule that requires financial advisers to always act in the best interest of their clients…
Wells Fargo financial advisors, David Jeremy Welty and Ane Plate have been barred from the securities industry by FINRA and the SEC, respectively, per AdvisorHUB. Both advisors were accused of stealing customer funds. Welty was alleged to have converted $8,700 for personal expenses from an account that was originally set…
Brokers offer financial advice to and transact a variety of securities on behalf of millions of investor households. Millions of Americans rely on their brokers to make complex long-term decisions about their retirement and long-term savings plans. Consumer Federation of America (CFA) published a report this week, “Financial Advisor or…
The securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints against stockbroker Matthew Meehan. Mr. Meehan was last employed and registered with E.J. Sterling, LLC, a Garden City, New York, broker-dealer, from November 2011 to October 2015, according to his publicly available BrokerCheck, as…
BlackRock has been charged by the SEC with removing whistleblower incentives in their separation agreements with employees, per the SEC. According to the Commission, BlackRock’s charges stemmed from allegations that the company forced employees to waive their ability to obtain whistleblower awards. Provisions such as those in Dodd-Frank provide for…
Recently the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report about the extent of elder abuse by guardians and measures that exist to protect older adults. This has become an issue of utmost importance as the number of older adults, over the age of 65, are expected to nearly double to…
Last year, the Obama administration introduced the Fiduciary rule that requires financial advisers to always act in the best interest of their clients when handling their retirement savings. It was expected to be a big industry shakeup, making financial advice more reliable, compensating advisers with a flat-fee model and reasonable…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) announced in a News Release on November 2, 2016 that it fined eight broker-dealer firms regarding failures to supervise the sale of variable annuities. FINRA announced that the following firms were fined a total of $6.2 million: VOYA Financial Advisors Inc., of Des Moines,…