FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., issued an investor alert about the risks of ETNs, exchange-traded notes, after an investigation of Credit Suisse and Barclays ETNs this year. ETNs are often thought of as as ETFs, exchange-traded funds, but in reality, the two are very different.  ETNs are promissory notes written by banks to deliver the returns of an […]

There will be a major revamping of suitability mandates effective July 9, 2012, that has some in the broker-dealer world worried about much broader obligations to oversee customer accounts and investment strategies, writes Dan Jamieson in an article from InvestmentNews.com, July 5, 2012. There will be a rule which requires brokers to perform reasonable diligence on products, understand those […]

  Brett Henderson (CRD #2420629, Registered Representative, North Salt Lake City, Utah) was fined $95,000, which includes restitution of $82,505 payable to customers, and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 11 months. Henderson consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings without admitting or denying the allegations, […]

  Sean K. Hannon (CRD #4296260, Registered Representative, Cary, North Carolina)   has submitted an Offer of Settlement in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Hannan, without admitting or denying FINRA's allegations, consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he failed to provide investigative […]

Soreide Law Group, PLLC, has begun investigating potential claims against Money Concepts Capital Corp. and broker, Gurudeo "Buddy" Persaud. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a former broker in Orlando, Fla., who defrauded investors in an astrology-based Ponzi scheme. The SEC alleges that Gurudeo “Buddy” Persaud lured family, friends, and others into investing in his firm, White Elephant Trading […]

  Thomas Brown Hammond (CRD #2389080, Registered Representative, Fair Oaks, California) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity.  Hammond consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he solicited both his brokerage firm customers and customers of his consulting business to invest funds in a fictitious private […]

  James Thomas Corne (CRD #4184489, Registered Representative, Duncan, South Carolina)   fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for three months.  Without admitting or denying the findings, Corne consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he falsified customers’ signatures on various securities and non-securities-related […]

Brent Robert Bishop (CRD #2348912, Registered Principal, Tulsa, Oklahoma) has been barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity and ordered to pay restitution in the total amount of $58,000, plus interest, to customers. These sanctions were based on FINRA's findings that Bishop misappropriated funds from his member firm’s customers by intentionally converting $40,000 […]

  BGC Financial, L.P. (CRD #19801, New York, New York) was censured and fined $40,000 by FINRA. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it permitted a disqualified individual to associate with the firm without regulatory approval. These findings stated that the firm […]