In an InvestementNews.com article from January20,2012, Dan Jamieson writes that in a regulatory notice, Finra outlined characteristics of what it calls “complex products,” which could include structured notes, inverse or leveraged exchange-traded funds, hedge funds and securitized products such as asset-backed securities. Finra stated that brokerage firms should have formal written procedures covering everything from […]

William D. Cohan, a former investment banker and author, for the Bloomberg View, recently wrote that there has been a fair amount written recently about various institutional cartels that are thriving in the U.S. despite antitrust laws designed to prevent their existence. Unbeknownst to the millions of people who interact with Wall Street every day […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  filed a civil injunctive action charging Monticello, New York investment adviser, Lloyd V. Barriger, registered with Barriger & Barriger Incorporated, with fraud in connection with two upstate New York real estate funds he managed – the Gaffken & Barriger Fund, LLC (the G&B Fund or the Fund), and Campus […]

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 […]

Soreide Law Group, PLLC, is currently investigating claims on behalf of investors in the following firms regarding stock/securities losses: Laidlaw & Company, with locations throughout the United States and the UK, First Midwest Securities, Inc. (FMSI) established in Wisconsin in 1989, FMSI has since relocated to Bloomington, Illinois, Obsidian Financial Group, with offices in New York and […]

In a November 16th., 2011, Sun-Sentinnel article, Donna Gehrke-White writes that a Ft. Lauderdale brokerage was fined $20,000, a Plantation broker was suspended for two years and a Coral Springs man was barred from working with any brokerage, according to November's report on disciplinary action taken by FINRA, the private regulatory agency that oversee securities companies. Newbridge […]

Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (CRD #705, St. Petersburg, Florida)   submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured, fined $12,500 and ordered to pay $1,849.33, plus interest, in restitution to investors.   Also, without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to […]

Brookstone Securities, Inc. (CRD® #13366, Lakeland, Florida), David William Locy (CRD #4682865, Registered Principal, Overland Park, Kansas), Mark Mather Mercier (CRD #1884246, Registered Principal, Lutz, Florida) and Antony Lee Turbeville (CRD #1721014, Registered Principal, Lakeland, Florida) submitted Offers of Settlement in which the firm was censured and fined $200,000; Locy was fined $10,000 and suspended […]

Dale David Twardowski (CRD #4056379, Registered Principal, Palm Harbor, Florida) submitted an Offer of Settlement in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Twardowski consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he failed to respond to FINRA requests […]