Soeide Law Group is currently investigating broker, Bambi I. Holzer, CRD #1088028. Ms. Holzer is currently a registered representative with Newport Coast Securities of Beverly Hills, CA. There have allegedly been numerous (over 50) reports filed against her in her 25+ year career, and over $11 million in awards and settlements. Several of these complaints […]

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority levied a total of $68 million in civil fines during 2012, according to statistics released by FINRA on Tuesday, January 8, 2013. This was slightly less than $71.9 million imposed by FINRA in 2011. The high-profile cases against large brokerages accounted for about one-third of total fines in 2012. […]

Soreide Law Group is currently investigating the Wells Timberland REIT for the investors who suffered financial losses. FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, fined Wells Investment Securities $300,000 for improper sales materials when selling the Wells Timberland REIT, from May 2007 to September 2009. (Wells Investment Securities neither admitted nor denied the charges.) FINRA stated […]

In an effort to protect investors over the sale of private placements, the new Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Rule 5123, was effective on December 3, 2012. Under the new FINRA Rule 5123, FINRA member firms that sell an issuer’s securities in a private placement will be required, subject to certain exemptions (which include private […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions, December, 2012.” Shari Robin Frimer (CRD #2503895, Registered Representative, Eastport, New York) and Thomas Joseph Heaphy Jr. (CRD #2540325, Registered Representative, Boynton Beach, Florida) submitted an Offer of Settlement in which Frimer was fined $32,407.50, which includes disgorgement of financial benefits of […]

The following are statistics compiled by FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, posted recently to their website. The statistics show that investor complaints are down while disciplinary action is at a 5 year high. Investor Complaints Received by FINRA In 2007 there were 4,552 complaints received by FINRA. However, in 2011 there were 2,979 down […]

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, alleges Roman Sledziejowski, the Polish president and owner of TWS Financial, LLC, in Brooklyn, N.Y., used customer funds for his own use and gave false statements to clients from June, 2009, through August, 2012. FINRA alleges Sledziejowski defrauded three Polish customers of more than $4 million by taking money […]

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, plan to warn parties in its arbitration hearings against using electronic devices to secretly record and transmit the proceedings writes Dan Jamieson in a recent article in InvestmentNews.com. This warning began by complaints from the Securities Experts' Roundtable Inc., a group of expert witnesses, about several instances of “electronic […]

In a recent Reuters article, they write that FINRA, or The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is examining major brokerages regarding potential conflicts of interest and financial incentives associated with the sale of complex securities, said the Wall Street regulator's chief. Richard Ketchum, FINRA's chairman and chief executive, said that FINRA is looking "very closely" at […]