investor

Jenice Malecki Will Be A Panelist At An Upcoming Unique National Investor Town Hall Meeting

October 25, 2016 | Jenice L. Malecki, Esq.

Alliance for Investor Education and the PIABA Foundation is Hosting an Educational Conference about Securing Investors’ Financial Futures

The National Investor Town Hall Meeting is a day-long series of presentations, free to the public, aimed at educating investors about the risks and rewards of financial investing. It will be held on October 29, 2016 at the Rancho Bernado Inn in San Diego, California. Many respected industry professionals, including Ms. Malecki and federal and state regulators will participate in four sessions to help attendees understand risk tolerance, choose financial advisors and avoid becoming victims of financial fraud.

“Financial fraud costs Americans approximately $50 billion each year. It has been my mission for over a decade to educate and empower investors, lending them a voice and holding big entities accountable for violating their fiduciary and ethical duties,” said Jenice Malecki, the founder of Malecki Law. She further adds, “I am excited to be part of this much needed grass-root investor education drive.”

Malecki Law: In The News

July 18, 2016 | Malecki Law Team

This month, Malecki Law attorneys were awarded full net out-of-pocket damages of $142,168.00 by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitration Panel. There has been a series of media reports on this, initially appearing in the InvestmentNews and followed by the Financial Times site Financial AdvisorIQ, and other websites. The claim was brought against Garden State Securities Inc. by Malecki Law on behalf of an elderly investor Anthony Romano on alleged charges of over-trading, over-concentration, and unsuitable investments.

This was another noteworthy investor case win for Malecki Law, who regularly brings claims against unscrupulous broker-dealers and holds them accountable for mismanaging investor’s accounts.

Elderly investors such as Mr. Romano find themselves especially at risk because once they lose their life’s savings to poor decisions made by brokers and securities firms, they do not have sufficient time to recoup their losses. The FINRA Arbitration panel also assessed that all forum fees in the amount of $14,400 will be paid by the respondent Garden State Securities, Inc.

Potential Recovery Options for OncoMed (OMED) Investors

January 25, 2016 | Malecki Law Team

Shares of OncoMed (OMED) plunged more than 40% today, January 25^th, in the wake of a report concerning a pancreatic cancer drug the company had reportedly been working on. According to Marketwatch, “an independent data safety monitoring board advised ‘of several findings regarding futility’ of a Phase 2 treatment of pancreatic cancer.’”

Investors who have lost money in OncoMed may be legally entitled to recover some or all of their losses and are encouraged to contact the attorneys at Malecki Law to explore their rights.

Unfortunately, issues like the one presently facing OncoMed can happen in the market. Even more unfortunate is that often times financial advisors will improperly advise their clients to take large positions in advance of the release of a report concerning a company’s prized drug, like Tarextumab.

Case Announcement: Malecki Law Obtains Summary Judgment Dismissal For Chinese Inventor Sued by Hedge Fund

January 13, 2016 | Malecki Law Team

Malecki Law is pleased to announce that we recently obtained Summary Judgment dismissal on behalf of a well-known Chinese inventor, who was a Defendant in the case that was pending in the Commercial Division of New York Supreme Court in New York County. Our client was sued by hedge fund Abax Lotus Ltd. over speculative investments Abax made more than eight years ago in a company called China Mobile Media Technology, Inc. The Inventor was a shareholder in China Mobile Media. Abax has filed a notice of its intention to appeal the decision, which both dismissed Abax’s motion for judgment, and granted the Inventor’s motion dismissing all claims against him.

Our client was personally named in the New York State lawsuit, alongside the company he worked for, over Abax’s investment. Abax previously obtained a judgment against the company, but sought to hold the Defendant personally liable. Justice O. Peter Sherwood, ruling from the bench, correctly noted that the Defendant-Inventor’s agreement as a shareholder did not make him personally liable for the company’s failures.

Correctly citing the seminal New York Court of Appeals case Hooper Assocs. v. AGS Computers, Inc., Justice Sherwood determined that the indemnification provisions relied on by Abax for the Defendant’s supposed liability did not apply. Justice Sherwood went further, determining that Abax “[did not] have the goods” to establish their claim against the Defendant.

PIABA Study Reveals that FINRA’s Effort to Curb Broker Record-cleansing Has Not Been Met With Success

October 26, 2015 | Malecki Law Team

According to Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association’s (PIABA) latest report, FINRA’s efforts to curb broker expungement and clear records of misconduct have failed to reduce the number of times it occurs. According to PIABA, between, 2012-14 expungement was granted in 87.8% of cases in which it was sought.

When brokers are granted expungement for alleged wrongdoings, this record is wiped out from FINRA’s BrokerCheck and FINRA is concerned that it might cause an impression about the broker’s ethic that is misleading.

Since 2014, FINRA has increased arbitrator guidance and training and introduced rules that prohibit arbitration settlements with expungement as a condition. FINRA has sought to grant expungement as an “extraordinary remedy” only to be available in cases where the broker’s record has no value for investor protection. FINRA’s arbitration task force is considering creating a Special Arbitration Panel comprised of specially trained arbitrators to make decisions on expungement requests.

FINRA Cautions Investors of Financial Fraud On WhatsApp

September 4, 2015 | Jenice L. Malecki, Esq.

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA ) issued a new investor alert this week, Messaging Apps Are Latest Platform for Delivering Pump-And-Dump Scams, warning investors to be wary of investment schemes forwarded to them on the popular messaging platform WhatsApp.

Recently, there were messages forwarded on the WhatsApp platform, claiming that the stocks of the microcap company Avra Inc (OTC: AVRN) were set for double digit growth. FINRA’s Senior VP for Investor Education, Gerri Walsh warned that financial schemers are keeping up with times and leveraging popular technology platforms to bilk investors. In this instance, the financial prediction about AVRA stocks appeared to be coming from well-known brokerage firms.

In traditional pump and dump schemes, microcap stocks are artificially inflated by fraudsters through false and misleading statements, to sell their cheaply purchased stocks at a high price. Once all the overvalued stocks are “dumped” by them, the prices crash and investors lose their money. This latest Avra scam is a variation of the pump-and-dump, where they were trying to use the mass message push feature to inflate the price of the stock and then leave investors holding nearly worthless investments.