Brookstone Securities, Inc. (CRD® #13366, Lakeland, Florida), David William Locy (CRD #4682865, Registered Principal, Overland Park, Kansas), Mark Mather Mercier (CRD #1884246, Registered Principal, Lutz, Florida) and Antony Lee Turbeville (CRD #1721014, Registered Principal, Lakeland, Florida) submitted Offers of Settlement in which the firm was censured and fined $200,000; Locy was fined $10,000 and suspended […]

Recently, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ordered Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (RJA) and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (RJFS) to pay restitution of $1.69 million to more than 15,500 investors who were charged unfair and unreasonable commissions on securities transactions. FINRA also fined RJA $225,000 and RJFS $200,000.   FINRA found that from […]

Andrew Paul Arno (CRD #2643104, Registered Representative, West Melbourne, Florida) was named as a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that he misused customers’ funds by depositing them into a bank account that he controlled instead of investing them in IRAs as he had represented to the customers and their relatives. The complaint alleges that […]

Dale David Twardowski (CRD #4056379, Registered Principal, Palm Harbor, Florida) submitted an Offer of Settlement in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Twardowski consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he failed to respond to FINRA requests […]

On the SEC's website we learn that the Securities and Exchange Commission announced the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts has charged Andrey C. Hicks of Boston, Mass., in a criminal complaint unsealed on Friday, October 28, 2011. Hicks was charged with committing wire fraud, attempting to commit wire fraud, and aiding and abetting wire fraud, […]

In an article for InvestmentNews.com, November 9th., 2011, Mark Schoeff Jr. writes that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) engaged in an unprecedented crackdown on investment advisers over the last year, contributing to an overall surge in agency enforcement. The SEC announced that it filed 146 enforcement actions against investment advisers and investment companies during the […]

Soreide Law Group, PLLC, has announced it's investigation into the Goldman Sachs Global Alpha Fund which was recently closed.  According a New York Times article, Global Alpha was started in 1995 with just $10 million. Over time the results soared. At its peak in 2007, Global Alpha ran about $12 billion, although that number had dwindled to about […]

The following are excerpts from Richard G. Ketchum, Chairman and CEO of FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Research Center on the Prevention of Financial Fraud in Washington, DC, Thursday, November 3, 2011. "We bring together policymakers, researchers, practitioners, law enforcement and others to discuss how we can better share […]

The following appeared on FINRA's website in 'Disciplinary Actions, October, 2011.' TD Ameritrade, Inc. (CRD #7870, Bellevue, Nebraska)  submitted a Letter of AcceptanceWaiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $100,000 by FINRA. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings […]