The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary Actions, April, 2012:”   Banc of America Investment Services, Inc. dba Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (CRD #7691, New York, New York)  submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $55,000. The firm has already paid […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary Actions, April, 2012:”   Cantone Research Inc. (CRD® #26314, Tinton Falls, New Jersey) and Christine L. Cantone (CRD #2687618, Registered Principal, Thompson, Pennsylvania)   submitted an Offer of Settlement in which the firm was censured, fined $25,000, $10,000 of which was jointly and severally with Christine […]

Have you invested in these  non-traded real estate investment trusts and funds that have recently seen steep devaluations?Name         Offering price      Per share Current estimated value       % decline per share  Behringer Harvard Opportunity REIT I          $10.00      $4.12           -58.80%       Behringer Harvard REIT I                                     $10.00     $4.64           -53.60%       Behringer Harvard Short-Term Opportunity Fund $10.00     $0.40          -96%       Cornerstone Core Properties REIT                     $8.00        $2.25           -71.88%       Inland […]

In a March, 2012, article for Forbes, Bill Singer writes that for the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing and without an adjudication of any issue, AXA Advisors, LLC submitted a Letter of Acceptance, […]

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Bruce Kelly writes in an InvestmentNews.com article, that another nontraded real estate investment trust has taken a sudden and precipitous decline in value — this time plunging nearly 72%. The investors in the Cornerstone Core Properties REIT Inc. were told this month by the company that the shares, once valued at $8, are now worth […]

In an InvestmentNews.com article, Dan Jamieson writes that Green Street Advisors Inc., says to forget the new breed of nontraded REITs. Investors are far more likely to be better off with publicly traded REITs, the research firm said in a report released Wednesday. The current regulatory scrutiny has forced sponsors of nontraded REITs to address […]

In an InvestmentNews.com article by Bruce Kelly, April 1, 2012, he writes that shortly after Susan Fox bought a nontraded real estate investment trust for her IRA, the REIT started to show quarterly losses. But when she met with her broker to discuss her concern, he sold her a second nontraded REIT. Kelly writes that […]

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 […]