According to Registered Rep magazine’s latest Broker Report Card, 98% of Edward Jones brokers say their securities firm is the best place to work. 78% of Merrill Lynch brokers ranked their investment firm as the number the one workplace. Findings were compiled from Internet surveys taken by 898 captive brokers…
In an arbitration case that could affect numerous cases that are still pending, a Financial Industry Regulation Authority panel awarded a small investor $200,000 after finding that a UBS Financial Services broker acted inappropriately when he sold high-risk Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. principal-protected notes to the claimant. The case involving…
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s amended complaint regarding the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America Corp. last January includes one new assertion. In addition to the SEC’s original allegations against Bank of America, the agency now says that the investment bank was in violation of proxy regulations…
Braintree Laboratories Inc. is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to keep its auction-rate securities lawsuit against the brokerage division of Citigroup Inc. in court. A federal court had ordered the proceedings into arbitration. Last April, the pharmaceutical company sued Citigroup for securities fraud, accusing the…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is barring a former Piper Jaffray & Co. broker from the securities industry. The broker was accused of insider trading. He has agreed to the ban and has settled the FINRA charges without denying or admitting wrongdoing. From 2007 until this July, the broker worked…
JP Morgan Chase has settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the securities firm was allegedly involved in an illegal payment scam to get municipal securities business from Jefferson County, Alabama. As part of its settlement with the SEC, JP Morgan Chase agreed to pay penalties of $75 million and…
Even as Stifel Financial Corp. continues to deal with securities fraud lawsuits and claims accusing the broker-dealer of misrepresenting the risks associated with investing in auction-rate securities, the company exhibited a 73% increase in 3rd quarter earnings due to a growth in transaction revenue. Its profit posted at $22.1 million,…
A securities fraud lawsuit filed in federal court is suing Securities America and parent company Ameriprise Financial Inc. for selling allegedly faulty private placement offerings even after W. Thomas Cross, a Securities America executive, expressed concerns that the sales could result in a “panicked run on the bank.” The lawsuit’s…
Former Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. and AXA Advisors broker Kenneth Neely has pled guilty to one count of mail fraud for setting up a Ponzi scheme that targeted at least 16 investors. Yesterday, Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced that she has shut down the scam. The 56-year-old St.…
This week, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced that it is fining Scottrade $600,000 for failing to put into place and work with an adequate anti-money laundering program that would have allowed it to identify and report suspect transactions. FINRA says that by failing to meet this requirement, Scottrade violated…
