In an article for InvestmentNews.com, November 9th., 2011, Mark Schoeff Jr. writes that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) engaged in an unprecedented crackdown on investment advisers over the last year, contributing to an overall surge in agency enforcement. The SEC announced that it filed 146 enforcement actions against investment advisers and investment companies during the […]

Soreide Law Group, PLLC, has announced it's investigation into the Goldman Sachs Global Alpha Fund which was recently closed.  According a New York Times article, Global Alpha was started in 1995 with just $10 million. Over time the results soared. At its peak in 2007, Global Alpha ran about $12 billion, although that number had dwindled to about […]

The following are excerpts from Richard G. Ketchum, Chairman and CEO of FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Research Center on the Prevention of Financial Fraud in Washington, DC, Thursday, November 3, 2011. "We bring together policymakers, researchers, practitioners, law enforcement and others to discuss how we can better share […]

The following appeared on FINRA's website in 'Disciplinary Actions, October, 2011.' TD Ameritrade, Inc. (CRD #7870, Bellevue, Nebraska)  submitted a Letter of AcceptanceWaiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $100,000 by FINRA. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings […]

In a Bloomberg News article from October 25, 2011, we learn that UBS AG, Switzerland’s largest bank, will pay $12 million to resolve Financial Industry Regulatory Authority claims that a brokerage unit allowed millions of short-sale orders to be placed without reasonable grounds to believe that the securities could be delivered. The article points out […]

Carlos Francisco Otalvaro (CRD #2294420, Registered Principal, Coral Gables, Florida)   was fined $15,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for one year, and barred from association with any FINRA member in any principal capacity. This fine shall be due and payable upon Otalvaro’s return to the securities industry.   These […]

The following article was found on FINRA's website: Tradespot Markets Inc. (CRD #29683, Davie, Florida) and Mark Bedros Beloyan (CRD #1392748, Registered Principal, Davie, Florida) submitted an Offer of Settlement in which the firm was censured and fined $25,000, and Beloyan was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for one month […]

The following article appeared on Ambac Financial Group, Inc.'s website. NEW YORK--Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:ABK) today announced the closing of 6.15% $400 million Directly-Issued Subordinated Capital Securities (DISCS(SM)). The DISCs were sold at a discount to par to yield 6.199%. The article goes on to say that Ambac will use all of the net proceeds […]

It was announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a Wells notice to UBS regarding secondary market trading of closed-end funds sold in Puerto Rico in 2008 and 2009.  USB sold $2.9 billion in bonds in 2008. UBS was a former financial adviser to Puerto Rico's Employees Retirement System that provides pensions for […]