Investors who were sold private credit funds by FINRA-registered broker-dealers may have sustained significant losses as redemption restrictions, declining net asset values (NAV), and liquidity problems continue to surface across several major products. Broker-dealers including LPL Financial, Ameriprise Financial, Osaic, and Cetera Financial Group have been among the distribution channels for these products. These funds […]

Investors who purchased MacKenzie Realty Capital Inc. (MKZR) have watched in shock as the stock plummeted approximately 95% from its earlier highs. For many, this isn’t just a market downturn—it’s a financial catastrophe potentially rooted in broker misconduct or unsuitable investment recommendations. Why Did MKZR Collapse? Once a non-traded REIT that moved to the NASDAQ, […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission is running a new ad campaign targeting seniors encouraging them to look up their financial advisor before they invest. Unfortunately, more often than not the check up on the broker happens after money is already invested or even worse lost. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or “FINRA” has also marketed […]

Last week LPL Financial Holdings agreed to pay $2.5 million in fines and restitution for improperly supervising brokers who sold non-traded real estate investment trusts. (Please note that LPL neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.) These non-traded REITs are high-yielding and very popular. These non-traded REITs have jumped about 50% since 2009, to $65 billion. They […]

Financial regulators are confronting investor frauds that are giving retirement savers steep losses on complex products that until a few years ago were aimed only at the most sophisticated investors, writes Nathaniel Popper in a New York Times article from Feb. 11, 2013. These victims are among the millions of Americans whose mutual funds and […]

Crystallex has commenced a proceeding under chapter 15 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in order to ensure that relevant CCAA orders are enforced in the United States. Many stock brokers recommended CRYXF to their clients as an undervalued mining company that is poised […]

In an article, Feb. 7, 2013, in the New York Post, it was reported that (broker-dealer owner), Anastasios “Tommy” Belesis' firm, John Thomas Financial, is being investigated by the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA). Mr. Belesis has made many media appearances on cable business/financial shows. […]

On Feb. 6th., 2013, LPL Financial, LLC, was ordered by Massachusetts Security Division to pay restitution of more than $2 million to investors who bought shares of nontraded real estate investment trusts (REITs) and a $500,000 administrative fine, which involved investors who bought shares of several different nontraded REITs in violation of state limitations, and […]

In a FINRA NTM 13-07 posted last Thursday on its website, FINRA asked for comment on an updated proposal that would keep the 5% guideline in place. The action follows complaints about an earlier proposal to eliminate the 5% rule for markups and markdowns. In other words, any FINRA broker/dealer can make up to 5% […]