The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary Actions, April, 2012:” Stone & Youngberg LLC (CRD #795, San Francisco, California) submitted a Letter of  Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured, fined $350,000 and ordered to pay $206,054.72, without interest, in restitution to customers. Without admitting or denying the findings, the […]

 The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary Actions, April, 2012:” E*Trade Capital Markets LLC (CRD #111528, Chicago, Illinois)  submitted a Letter of  Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured, fined $45,000, required to pay $812.13, plus interest, in restitution to customers and to revise its WSPs regarding trade reporting. Without […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary Actions, April, 2012:” Headwaters BD, LLC (CRD #117042, Denver, Colorado), Paul Edward Janson (CRD #4992234, Registered Principal, Avon, Connecticut), Roberta Ann Laraway (CRD #4845302, Registered Principal, Lone Tree, Colorado) and Philip Williams Seefried Jr. (CRD #1747086, Registered Principal, Denver Colorado) submitted an Offer of Settlement in […]

On the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's website (FINRA) it was announced that it had fined Citi International Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc., $600,000 and ordered more than $648,000 in restitution and interest to more than 3,600 customers for charging excessive markups and markdowns on corporate and agency bond transactions, and for related supervisory violations. Executive […]

The following information is from FINRA's website under "Disciplinary Actions, March, 2012:   Spartan Securities Group, LTD (CRD #104478, Clearwater, Florida)   submitted a Letterof Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured, fined $52,500 and required to revise its WSPs regarding its supervisory system, procedures and qualifications;order handling; best execution; anti-intimidation/coordination; trade […]

The following information is excerpts from the article on the FINRA website.  The fact that a product is “complex” indicates that it presents an additional risk to retail investors because its complexity adds a further dimension to the investment decision process beyond the fundamentals of market forces. This may be the case even though the complexity […]

Elevation, LLC (CRD #140341, Charlotte, North Carolina)   submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $10,000.   Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it commenced an options business, engaged in options transactions […]

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 […]