Evan Taber (CRD #1892751, Registered Representative, Plantation, Florida)   was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity.   This sanction was based on findings that Taber intentionally converted or misappropriated customer funds. These findings stated that Taber discussed with a customer an investment that would yield a 15 percent rate of return […]

Jeffrey Rachlin (CRD #823547, Registered Principal, Pleasantville, New York)   has submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $10,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 30 business days, and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any principal capacity for 18 months. The […]

Alan Stuart Pattee (CRD #3002976, Registered Representative, Lake Worth, Florida)   has submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Pattee consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he forged homeowner […]

Alan David Goddard Jr. (CRD #3019681, Registered Representative, Boca Raton, Florida)   has submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $10,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 45 days. This fine must be paid either immediately upon Goddard’s reassociation with a FINRA member […]

Timothy Michael McGinn (CRD #813935, Registered Principal, Schenectady, New York) and David Lee Smith (CRD #427284, Registered Principal, Saratoga Springs, New York) were barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. The sanctions were based on findings that Smith misused investor funds when he sold approximately $89 million in income notes issued by […]

In an InvestmentNews.com article by Bruce Kelly, he writes that failed private placements issued by Medical Capital Holdings Inc. and Provident Royalties LLC have forced dozens of broker-dealers to close, be sold or seek bankruptcy protection. Failed real estate tenant-in-common syndicator DBSI Inc. is threatening to have the same result, with DeWaay Financial Network LLC […]

In a December 6, 2011, article from Bloomberg News, we learn that Bank of America Corp. (BAC) reached a $315 million settlement with class action plaintiffs who sued its Merrill Lynch unit over claims tied to mortgage-backed securities, according to a filing in Manhattan federal court. Merrill Lynch was sued starting in December, 2008, by asset- […]

Pacific West Securities, Inc., a sizable independent broker-dealer with about 290 affiliated reps and advisers, is shutting down due to thin margins and high costs of doing business, with the reps moving to a broker-dealer in Cetera Financial Group, writes Bruce Kelly in a Dec. 6, 2011, ariticle for InvesmentNews.com. Kelly writes that Pacific West Securities […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that it has fined Wells Investment Securities, Inc. $300,000 for using misleading marketing materials in the sale of Wells Timberland REIT, Inc., a non-traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).   It was noted that Wells was the dealer-manager and wholesaler for the public offering of Wells Timberland REIT, which […]