On the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's website (FINRA) it was announced that it had fined Citi International Financial Services LLC, a subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc., $600,000 and ordered more than $648,000 in restitution and interest to more than 3,600 customers for charging excessive markups and markdowns on corporate and agency bond transactions, and for related supervisory violations. Executive […]

In an April 12, 2012, article for Forbes, Halah Touryalai writes that Goldman Sachs was hit with a $22 million penalty for claims that its analysts shared non-public short-term trading ideas with favored clients. Touryalai reports that Goldman Sachs agreed to settle the charges that its equity analysts met during weekly “huddles” with the firm’s traders […]

THE FOLLOWING IS AN ARTICLE FROM THE SEC’S WEBSITE: "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that a federal judge in Massachusetts entered a final judgment on March 14, 2012 ordering defendant James J. Konaxis, formerly a registered representative of Beverly-based broker-dealer Sentinel Securities, Inc., to disgorge more than $483,000 in commissions earned over a two-year […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary Actions, March, 2012:"   Sergio M. Ripamonti (CRD #2786045, Registered Representative, Sunny Isles Beach, Florida)   submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Ripamonti consented […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary Actions, March, 2012:   Scott David Mason (CRD #3270983, Registered Principal, Debary, Florida)   submitted an Offer of Settlement in which he was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 18 months and required to requalify by examination prior to associating with […]

The following information is from FINRA’s website under “Disciplinary Actions, March, 2012:   Erick Enrique Isaac (CRD #5691821, Registered Representative, Aventura, Florida)   submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Isaac consented to the […]

In a February 29, 2012, article from BrowardBulldog.org, Ann Henson Feltgen writes that a Broward County probate judge has nipped an alleged attempt to redirect a $3 million inheritance intended to care for four beloved show dogs following their owner’s death. Judge Mark Speiser threw out financial advisor Charles E. Bishop’s claim as inheritor of the estate […]

In an April 2nd., 2012, article on ThinkProgress.com, Travis Waldon writes that former Goldman Sachs trader Greg Smith publicly resigned three weeks ago, decrying the firm’s “toxic and destructive" culture in a scathing New York Times editorial. But it isn’t just traders at America’s biggest investment bank that view their clients as “muppets,” at least […]

THE FOLLOWING IS AN ARTICLE FROM THE SEC'S WEBSITE: "The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that the United States District Court for the District of Colorado entered an Order amending a February 11, 2011 Final Judgment wherein Greenberg, without admitting or denying the Commission’s allegations, consented to the entry of a Final Judgment […]