Broker Alan Douglass Unsuitably Overconcentrated Investor’s Funds in Non-Publicly Traded Products An investor based in Lutz, Florida has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against Securities America. This investor suffered losses in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other non-publicly traded investments. The claimant, who is a…
SEC Said Firm Didn’t Implement Proper Safeguards To Prevent Misappropriation The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined Securities America Advisors $1.75M for allegedly not doing enough to protect customers from having their money stolen by a former registered representative who misappropriated $8M from at least 15 client accounts. Hector…
Integration Instigated After Advisor Group’s Acquisition of Ladenburg Thalman Securities America, which is a broker-dealer of the Advisor Group network, has completed integrating brokerage firms Investacorp, KMS Financial Securities, and Securities Services Network into its fold. All four were Ladenburg Thalman broker-dealers until Advisor Group acquired Ladenburg and its firms…
Michigan Stockbroker Was Fired By Securities America Jaime Michael Westenbarger, a former Securities America registered representative in Michigan, is currently named in three pending customer complaints accusing him of negligence and stockbroker fraud. Westenbarger, who was fired by the broker-dealer last year, has been barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory…
Ex-Securities America Broker Investigated For Ponzi Scam Involvement The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has permanently barred ex-Securities America broker, Ronald Roach, in the wake of his involvement in a $909M Ponzi fraud. Ronald Roach pleaded guilty last month to criminal fraud charges and is facing…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has suspended former Securities America broker Michael D. Jackson for six months following allegations that he traded options in one client’s account without telling the brokerage firm. Securities America has since fired Jackson. According to the self-regulatory authority (SRO), in 2016, the ex-Securities America…
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin is charging Securities America with inadequate supervision of a broker who is accused of using a “grossly deceptive” radio ad campaign to target older investors. The state regulator said that the financial firm shouldn’t have approved the spots that Barry Armstrong ran on…
The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities is looking into the sales of nontraded REITs by Securities America employees. Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., which owns the broker-dealer and two other independent brokerage firms, said in its yearly report that the state regulator wants the brokerage firm to provide data…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is fining Securities America and Triad Advisors $625,000 and $650,000, respectively, for not properly supervising the way consolidated reporting systems were used. Triad must also pay $375,00 in restitution. Even though they are settling, the two firms are not denying or admitting to wrongdoing. The…
Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin just announced that independent broker-dealers Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP), Securities America Inc., Commonwealth Financial Network, Lincoln Financial Advisors, and Royal Alliance Associates have consented to pay another $10.75 million in restitution over non-traded REITs that were sold to clients between 2005 and now. The…