Not far from the home of the original “Ponzi scheme” in Boston, the SEC filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island on May 7, 2015 alleging that financial advisor and former broker Patrick Churchville operated a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors out of $11…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has permanently barred Nicholas Hansen Harper. Harper worked in Wells Fargo’s Topeka, Kansas branch office from 1997 through 2013 according to his BrokerCheck Report. Per the Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent filed with FINRA, Harper resigned from Wells Fargo on August 7, 2013,…
What should happen to a financial advisor (FA) if they provide unsuitable and inappropriate investment advice to their clients? First, if the unsuitable advice given to a customer caused losses to that customer’s account, the customer has the option to sue the FA in FINRA arbitration. Investors can recover some…
This oil and gas investment was a bust, but not because of the current market conditions. According to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) court filings, brokers Jeffrey Gainer, Jerry Cicolani, Jr. and Kelly Hood were terminated from their employer PrimeSolutions Securities, Inc., a Cleveland, Ohio broker-dealer, as a result of…
Is it okay for a broker-dealer to use bonuses and other incentives to encourage its financial advisors to steer customers into “in house” and proprietary funds that may not be right for them just to generate more fees for the firm? Or does this practice improperly (and illegally) incentivize the…
On the heels of an announcement from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that LPL Financial LLC has been fined approximately $12 million as a result of lax supervision, FINRA barred former LPL broker Charles Fackrell as a result of him refusing to comply with FINRA’s request for information. Mr. Fackrell…
Senior-aged investors continue to dominate securities related news coming out of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Though Avenir Financial Group, a New York-based broker-dealer, has only been a FINRA member for three years, the regulator has alleged substantial fraud claims against the firm, the firm’s Chief Executive Officer and…
LPL Financial agreed to pay more than $11 million to settle charges in connection with a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) investigation into the firm, as recently reported in the Wall Street Journal. According to the Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent filed with FINRA, LPL Financial was alleged to…
Formality is substance in the business of investing; casual account management is not allowed. Either you discuss every trade with your broker, or your broker obtains written discretionary power, with no exceptions! The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) accepted on April 27, 2015 a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent…
Unfortunately, the elderly and the inexperienced investors are oftentimes the ones who find themselves victimized by unscrupulous and predatory brokers. Foreign persons – from Europe, South America, and elsewhere – also appear to be increasingly victimized by such U.S.-based brokers as well. On April 28, 2015 the Financial Industry Regulatory…