Articles Posted in Investor Fraud

In a speech delivered at Georgetown University, FINRA CEO Robert Cook expressed the Regulatory Authority’s intent on helping brokerages identify and supervise brokers with a history of disciplinary action. From now on, FINRA is going to look very closely at how firms hire and supervise high-risk brokers, Cook explained. Firms should have heightened supervision in…

The SEC recently asked a federal judge to freeze $5.4 million of Avalon FA Ltd.’s funds, on account of its practice of “layering.” A Seychelles investment firm run out of Ukraine, Avalon allegedly engaged in illegal market manipulation. Layering, in the SEC’s words is, “a scheme in which orders are placed but later canceled after…

Barclays Capital has reached a $97 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve allegations that its Wealth and Investment Management Americas (WIMA) unit overcharged clients by $50 million between 2010 and 2015. The SEC’s investigation determined that Barclays Capital, which sold its WIMA unit in 2015, incurred violations of multiple sections of…

Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments (PKS) of Albany, New York, recently agreed to pay $3.4 million to a Native American tribe to resolve allegations that one of its brokers, Gopi Krishna Vungarala, took millions of dollars in undisclosed commissions on the tribe’s investments. Vungarala was not only a financial advisor to the tribe; he was also…

During the “SEC Speaks” Conference 2017, Acting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Michael Piwowar amply discussed the plight of the “forgotten investor.” Citing the work of sociologist William Graham Sumner, who spoke of The Forgotten Man, “the victim of the reformer, social speculator, and philanthropist,” Piwowar questioned disclosure requirements, high corporate penalties and accreditation…

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is considering whether it will bring enforcement actions against Atlanta’s $205 billion-asset SunTrust Banks. SunTrust Investment Services, the bank’s broker-dealer arm, allegedly purchased pricey mutual funds on behalf of customers when more affordable alternatives were readily available. The SEC has made a “preliminary determination to recommend that the SEC…

It may come as no surprise that doing business in China holds a high risk of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations. However, the record-setting numbers of FCPA enforcement actions seen in 2016 placed Mexico in a close second. With increases in multi-jurisdictional anti-corruption enforcement, the FCPA Pilot Program and a number of new Mexican…

Lincoln Financial Securities Corp. recently settled with FINRA concerning supervisory deficiencies over a now-deceased rep (Kenneth Wayne McLeod) who purportedly ran a Ponzi scheme targeting retired government employees (Department of Enforcement v. Lincoln Financial Services Corp. – Case No. 2010025074101). A copy of the FINRA AWC can be accessed here: (FINRA AWC). FINRAs case is…

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) recently released its Enforcement Report for 2012. A copy can be found here. NASAA is an association primarily comprised of state securities regulators. Through the association, its members engage in multi-state enforcement actions and other collaborative activities. NASAA’s Enforcement Section tracks trends in securities fraud and oversees the…

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) views its mandate as investor protection and as such, they have given notice that a new suitability rule, Rule 2111, will go into effect on July 9, 2012. As long as there have been investors and brokers, there have been people who take advantage and people who are taken…