The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., also known as FINRA, is proposing to tighten its definition of “public” arbitrator. FINRA would like to exclude people associated with a mutual fund or hedge fund from its pool of public arbitrators and require others to wait for two years after ending an industry affiliation before being classified […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions, January, 2013.” David Scott Isolano (CRD #2504880, Registered Principal, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Isolano consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission, also known as the 'SEC,' has filed 734 enforcement actions the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2012. That is one less than last year’s record of 735. The SEC’s report should remind investors that investment fraud is still a threat to investors. The SEC filed 147 enforcement actions in […]

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 […]

Securities Lawyer, Lars Soreide, of Soreide Law Group, is currently investigating Gramercy Securities, Inc. This brokerage has been alleged to have placed unsophisticated investors' money into unsuitable investments. There have been claims, for example, of a recent widow losing her entire net worth by investing in risky private placements. Some of these risky private placements […]

Jason T. Knapp, Corinth, New York, was arrested in connection with a nationwide Ponzi scheme, which allegedly involves hundreds of thousands of dollars. Knapp was a registered representative of Dawson James Securities of Boca Raton, FL, and had raised investment capital with a company call SteepleChase Group, making claims that returns on investments would be […]

Recently, Morgan Keegan entered into a settlement with FINRA for conduct surrounding non traditional etfs sold to retail customers. The following is information from FINRA's website. Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. (CRD #4161, Memphis, Tennessee) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $365,000. The firm consented […]

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has eased up on a controversial interpretation of its new suitability rule in a move that is bound to make the industry happy writes Dan Jamieson in a recent artilce in InvestmentNews.com. The new guidance issued December 10th., 2012, FINRA backtracked from an earlier interpretation of the rule, which […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it obtained an emergency court order to halt an alleged Ponzi-like scheme operated by Small Business Capital Corp. and its principal Mark Feathers, who raised $42 million by selling securities issued by Investors Prime Fund LLC and SBC Portfolio Fund LLC - two mortgage investment funds they […]