The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctioned the following eight firms and 10 individuals, and ordered restitution totaling more than $3.2 million, for selling interests in private placement offerings without having a reasonable basis for recommending the securities. The firms and individuals sold interests in several high-risk private placements, including those issued by Provident Royalties, […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), May 15,2013, censured and fined VSR Financial Services, $550,000 over allegations that it failed to supervise its sales of alternative investments to its customers, specifically as it related to concentration in hedge funds, notes, REITs and private placements investments. Donald Beary, VSR’s President, received a 45-day suspension and $10,000 […]

The exchange-traded funds (ETF) that use leverage to double and triple returns on stock market moves could cause the next big market crash, according to the Federal Reserve. In an article titled "Are Leveraged and Inverse ETFs the New Portfolio Insurers?" from the central bank stirred markets into wondering what would happen if the funds […]

Last month, National Planning Corp. said that as a result of continuing due diligence it has suspended sales of American Realty Capital Trust V Inc., a fast-selling product that in June averaged sales of $10.8 million per day writes Bruce Kelly of InvestmentNews. “Due to concerns with style drift, deviations from the prospectus and growing […]

Highest Paying Broker/Dealers Ranked by average payout per rep, per year 1.Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. 2.Commonwealth Financial Network 3.VSR Financial Services Inc. 4.Geneos Wealth Management Inc. 5.Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network Largest Broker/Dealers Ranked by revenue 1.LPL Financial LLC 2.Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. 3.Raymond James Financial Services Inc. 4.Lincoln Financial Network 5.Commonwealth Financial Network Broker/Dealer […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently suspended and fined a broker for a social media violation involving equity index annuities writes Elizabeth Festa in a recent article for LifeHealthPro. The registered representative publicly released videos through YouTube, sending out invitations to seminars and letters regarding bonus incentives that did not comply with FINRA’s rules, […]

A former financial adviser from northern New Jersey, Hugh Hunsinger Jr., has admitted stealing more than $1.35 million from his parents' accounts to pay his own expenses writes NBC Philadelphia. Attorney General, John Hoffman, says the 49-year-old Hunsinger of Pine Brook pleaded guilty Tuesday, August 6th., 2013, to theft by unlawful taking. He is facing […]

There is a statue of limitations for securities fraud cases that go before FINRA and we detail that in this blog post.

The following informative and clever list, comes from interviews by Michelle Crouch of several financial consultants. They share some of the secrets of their trade. "1. Certified financial planners and NAPFA-registered financial advisers take a pledge to put their clients' interests ahead of their own, but traditional stockbrokers aren't held to the same standard, even […]