National Securities Corp Fined and Censured

According to a recent article in FinancialAdvisorIQ, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)  has censured and fined National Securities Corp, a broker/dealer firm, over its alleged handling of private offerings.
The FINRA letter of acceptance, waiver and consent (AWC) alleges that in December of 2017 and January of 2018, National Securities Corp (NSC) allegedly sold their investors a pre-initial public offering managed by its affiliated investment advisor, National Asset Management, in a private company listed as “Company A”, through two separate offerings.
According to FINRA, NSC approved both of the offerings, but it allegedly failed to conduct due diligence regarding the availability or authenticity of additional shares in Company A for the second offering. National Securities Corp, according to FINRA, allegedly continued to recommend and sell the second offering, taking clients’ money and allegedly misleading them about the status of their purchase.
The second offering allegedly didn’t purchase shares in Company A until more than 10 months after NSC approved the disbursement of investor funds, stated FINRA, and shares were allegedly bought at double the maximum price that was in the offering documents.
According to the AWC, last week, National Securities Corp consented to a censure and to pay $363,447.67 in disgorgement, plus interest, as well as a $300,000.00 fine, without admitting or denying FINRA’s findings.
The SEC states in a bulletin that private placements are not subject to some of the laws and regulations that are designed to protect investors, such as the comprehensive disclosure requirements that apply to registered offerings and private and public companies engage in private placements to raise funds from investors.  The SEC reminds investors to keep in mind that private placements can be very risky and any investment may be difficult, if not virtually impossible to sell.
If you’ve experienced investment losses through National Securities Corp or their affiliated investment advisor, National Asset Management, due to their recommendations, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost regarding the possible recovery of your financial losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group works on a contingency fee basis and represents our clients nationwide before FINRA.