Levinski Dealexis Barnes (CRD #2292179, Registered Representative, Lutz, Florida) has been named a respondent in a FINRA complaint alleging that he discussed with a customer an investment in an accounting business that Barnes and other individuals were contemplating purchasing. The FINRA complaint alleges that Barnes told the customer that if the offer for the business […]

Stephanie Lee Webster (CRD #2424488, Registered Representative, Fort Lauderdale, Florida) was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 15 business days. Without admitting or denying the findings, Webster consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that she attempted to settle a customer’s complaint, without […]

FINRA publishes a quarterly review to provide firms with a sampling of recent disciplinary actions involving misconduct by registered representatives. The sample includes settled matters and decisions in litigated cases (National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) decisions and SEC decisions in FINRA cases). These summaries call attention to, and remind registered representatives and member firms of, specific […]

Alice Hale Everett (CRD #1867376, Registered Representative, Hialeah, Florida) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the allegations by FINRA, Alice Everett consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that she failed to respond to FINRA requests for information regarding a possible private […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Stephen B. Blankenship, of New Fairfield, Connecticut, and Deer Hill Financial Group, LLC, a Connecticut limited liability company under Blankenship’s control, with a scheme to defraud investors. The SEC’s Complaint alleges that, from at least 2002 through November 2011, Blankenship misappropriated at least $600,000 from at least 12 […]

(FINRA publishes a quarterly review to provide firms with a sampling of recent disciplinary actions involving misconduct by registered representatives. This sample includes settled matters and decisions in litigated cases (National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) decisions and SEC decisions in FINRA cases). These summaries call attention to, and remind registered representatives and member firms of, specific […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Guggenheim Securities, LLC, of New York, $800,000 for failing to supervise two collateralized debt obligation (CDO) traders who engaged in activities to hide a trading loss writes the editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter in a recent article. Also, Alexander Rekeda, the former head of Guggenheim’s CDO […]

It's not just the rich or famous anymore. Many scam artists prey on people from all ages and walks of life, often targeting those they already know - perhaps they attend the same church or knitting club - in so-called "affinity fraud," writes Carolyn Said of the Houston Chronicle in a recent article. Victim advocacy […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking into the VelocityShares 2x Long VIX Short Term Exchange Note, managed by Credit Suisse Group AG, which had about $700 million in assets before the decline, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. The Massachusetts’s securities regulator and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) […]