The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has barred former Wells Fargo (CRD# 126292) financial advisors Charles Henry Frieda (CRD# 5502319) and Charles B. Lynch, Jr. (CRD# 3004877) for allegedly engaging in a pattern and practice of recommending an unsuitable over-concentration in energy-sector securities to numerous customers. On April 12, 2016,…
On September 25, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued a fine of $3.25 million against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) in connection with the brokerage firm’s alleged failure to supervise its brokers’ short-term trades of unit investment trusts. Unit investment trusts (“UITs”) are a specific type…
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s (“Merrill Lynch”) brokerage unit offered Strategic Return Notes (“SRNs”) to customers, resulting in losses of as much as 95% of the principal invested. First issued in November 2010 and maturing November 27, 2015, the SRNs were designed to be linked to Merrill Lynch’s own proprietary…
As recently reported, on September 20, 2017, the Enforcement Section of the Massachusetts Securities Division (the “Division”) filed an Administrative Complaint (“Complaint”) against SII Investments, Inc. (“SII”) (CRD# 2225) in connection with the brokerage firm’s marketing and sales of non-traded REITs to certain Massachusetts investors. SII is an independent broker-dealer…
Investors who purchased shares in United Development Funding IV (“UDF IV”) upon the recommendation of their financial advisor – pursuant to a misleading sales presentation or if the recommendation to invest lacked a reasonable basis or was otherwise unsuitable – may be able to recover their losses in FINRA arbitration. …
Investors who purchased shares in the publicly registered non-traded REIT United Development Funding III (“UDF III”) upon the recommendation of their stockbroker or financial advisor may be able to recover their losses in FINRA arbitration if the recommendation to purchase shares lacked a reasonable basis or the nature and characteristics…
As recently reported, the Woodbridge Group of Companies, LLC (“Woodbridge”) of Sherman Oaks, CA, continues to face considerable regulatory scrutiny in connection with allegations of offering and selling unregistered securities. To date, Woodbridge has been the subject of investigations by state securities regulators in Arizona, Texas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. …
As part of its ongoing enforcement focus on variable annuity (“VA”) sales practices, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) recently censured and fined Hornor, Townsend & Kent, Inc. (“HTK”) $275,000 for its alleged failure to supervise its brokers’ sales of VAs. HTK (CRD# 4031), headquartered in Horsham, PA, is a…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) obtained an order on September 21, 2017 requiring the Woodbridge Group of Companies LLC (“Woodbridge”), of Sherman Oaks, California, to produce the documents of several company executives and employees, including the President and CEO. This order reportedly relates to an SEC investigation of Woodbridge. The SEC…
If your financial advisor has recommended an unsuitable investment in a Master Limited Partnership (or “MLP”) without a reasonable basis for the recommendation, you may be able to recover losses through arbitration before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). Recently, a three-member all public FINRA arbitration panel ordered RBC Capital…