Investor Lawyers Blog
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, Mr. Lynch was discharged by Wells Fargo for “loss of management confidence,” as reported on Wells’ Form U-5 filing with regulators. His partner, Mr. Frieda, remained at Wells until September 2017.
Pursuant to FINRA Rule 9216, on November 27, 2017, both Messrs. Lynch and Frieda submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) for the purposes of proposing a settlement to certain alleged industry rule violations. Specifically, it was alleged by FINRA Enforcement in the AWC that “From November 2012 to October 2015” both former Wells Fargo advisors “[r]ecommended an investment strategy that was unsuitable for certain retail customers” and purportedly involved the brokers recommending “[a]n over-concentration in energy-sector securities, some of which were speculative, resulting in significant customer losses.”
As part of the AWC, FINRA Enforcement alleged that Messrs. Lynch and Frieda violated FINRA Rule 2111. In relevant part, Rule 2111 – the so-called suitability rule – mandates that a broker “must have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended… investment strategy involving a security or securities is suitable for the customer, based on the information obtained through reasonable due diligence….”
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 of Investment Company, as defined by the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ’40 Act), and subject to regulation by the SEC. Unlike mutual funds, closed-end funds, or ETFs, UITs are unique in that they are created for a specific, limited time period (e.g., 24 months). Furthermore, UITs consist of a static investment portfolio as part of a pre-selected pooled investment vehicle.
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 volatility index (the “VOL”) which was designed to calculate the volatility of the S&P 500 Index. The SRNs, which were issued at $10 per share, ultimately matured at just $0.50 per share. Thus, investors in Merrill Lynch’s proprietary SRN’s were subjected to an enormous 95% loss on their principal investment.
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 within National Planning Holdings, which was recently acquired by Boston-based LPL Financial.
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. UDF IV is one of a number of successive funds offered by the real estate finance limited partnership, United Development Funding (“UDF”), headquartered in Grapevine, TX. UDF IV was formed as a Maryland REIT in May 2008. By December 31, 2012, UDF IV had issued 17,642,839 common shares in exchange for gross proceeds of approximately $352.5 million.
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. Several of these investigations have resulted in regulators issuing cease-and-desist orders, requiring Woodbridge to stop offering and/or selling unregistered securities, and further, to stop otherwise violating applicable securities laws.
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.
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 Markets and one of its registered representatives to pay $723,000 to a former client, an elderly customer from Norwell, MA, in connection with losses sustained on an overconcentrated portfolio of oil and gas MLPs (FINRA Case No. 17-0305 – Nourie, et al v. RBC Capital Markets).