UBS AG was ordered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to buy back an investor's Puerto Rico bond fund for $1 million. A San Juan FINRA arbitration panel found two UBS units liable to the 66+ year-old investor whose losses were $737,000 only four years after he opened his account in 2011. This FINRA […]

BRYAN A. CARNAHAN (CRD# 3103811), a former broker with Huntington Bank in Hilliard, Ohio, was barred by FINRA early in May for allegedly stealing approximately $170,000 from a client's brokerage account to cover his other clients' investment losses. FINRA reported that Carnahan had his client withdraw funds from her bank account and get cashier's checks […]

PATRICK E. CHURCHVILLE (CRD# 2245842), a 46 year-old Barrington, Rhode Island former broker, was charged May 8, 2015, by the SEC in an alleged $11 million Ponzi scheme which occured from December 2010 - November 2012. Churchville faces several charges connected with his ClearPath Wealth Management firm, which included diverting $2.5 million in 2011 to […]

The following summation of information was obtained by Soreide Law Group (888-760-6552) from FINRA's Website under "Disciplinary and Other Actions April 2015." EDI Financial, Inc. (CRD #15699, Irving, Texas) was censured and fined $100,000 by FINRA for allegedly failing to adopt and implement supervisory systems and procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with EDI Financial’s […]

Michael Willard Korson (CRD #2108802, Novi, Michigan) was barred by FINRA for allegedly failing to timely and accurately notify his member firm of his outside business activities. Although Korson eventually provided notice to his firm and revealed that he received compensation from the outside business, he falsely stated when his involvement first began. FINRA's findings […]

Ascendiant Capital Markets, LLC (CRD #152912, Irvine, California) was censured and fined $52,500 by FINRA for allegedly failing to record all terms and conditions on a customer order record and document time-in- force; failed to record all terms and conditions on a customer order record and document the correct order receipt time; and failed to […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred Aaron Parthemera, a Fort Lauderdale Wells Fargo financial advisor for allegedly engaging in a several outside businesses, and allegedly running Club Play, a hip hop club in South Beach. According to FINRA, between 2009 to 2013, Aaron Parthemer, acted as an advisor to a number of NFL […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that Avenir Financial Group, a New York-based broker-dealer, its CEO Michael Clements, and registered representative Karim Ibrahim (aka Chris Allen) consented to an order halting further fraudulent sales of equity interests in the firm and promissory notes pending a hearing on fraud charges relating to the same offerings. […]

On Friday, April 24, 2015, the credit-rating agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), downgraded Puerto Rico’s general-obligation bonds further into "junk" level territory from a B rating down to a CCC+ grade, making it even more difficult for the financially distressed island to borrow money and dig out from its severe financial problems. This grading means […]