It was recently announced that the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) will repay investors in Massachusetts, $2.9 million on losses from leveraged and non-leveraged exchange-traded funds, also know as ETFs.  This is just another example of the losses experienced, and now the crackdown on these very volatile funds. Massachusetts' top securities regulator, William Galvin, said in […]

This past Tuesday, May 1st., FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. fined four major brokerages $9.1 million for selling complex ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) to investors whose portfolios were otherwise conservative.  Without admitting or denying the charges, the brokerges will be paying $7.3 million in fines, and $1.8 million in restitution to the clients who […]

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 […]

Recently warnings from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) siting the dangers of leverged ETFs and inverse ETFs (exchange-traded funds). These funds are extremely complex products that carry a great deal of risk. Soreide Law Group, PLLC, has launched an investigation into these funds. It is noted that ETFs are […]

In a June 20, 2011, article from Bloomberg News, it was reported that Massachusetts' top securities regulator is suing RBC Capital Markets LLC and one of its former registered representatives over the sale of leveraged exchange-traded funds, saying they sold them to clients who didn't understand how the investments worked. The Massachusetts Secretary of the […]