Two years after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred former UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico (UBS-PR) broker Jose Ramirez, nicknamed the Whopper, our UBS Puerto Rico fraud attorneys are continuing to provide representation to investors who sustained losses because they took his and other UBS-PR brokers’ advice to…
Investment Firm and Its CEO Are Expelled and Barred for Inflating the Price of Shares Before Selling Them The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has expelled Hallmark Investments and barred Steven G. Dash, who is the firm’s CEO, over a securities scam that involved selling stocks at inflated prices. According to…
Four Firms Are Ordered to Pay $4.75M for Market Access Rule Violations The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, CBOE Holdings company Bats, the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and their affiliated Exchanges have fined four financial firms $4.75M collectively for violating the Securities Exchange Act of 1934’s Rule 15c3-5, which is…
After Pleading Guilty, Massachusetts Money Manager Must Repay Investors Stephen Eubanks is sentenced to 30 months behind bars for bilking investors of $437K. He also must pay restitution in that amount to his more than 20 victims. Eubanks presented himself as a hedge fund manager at Eubiquity Capital, which he…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is ordering Wells Fargo Securities (WFC) to pay a $3.25M fine for inaccuracies and mistakes in its reporting for over-the-counter trades that took place between January 2008 and March 2017. The self-regulatory organization also has censured the firm. According to FINRA, in 2008, Wells Fargo…
The Financial Industry Regulatory has barred Lawrence M. Thomas, an ex-Woodbury Financial Services Inc. broker who was under investigation for unauthorized product sales. Thomas was previously registered with Essex Securities. Last year, Thomas was fined $5K and suspended for three months after he consented to findings that he told an…
In interviews with Reuters, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority admitted that even though investors are harmed when broker-dealers hire brokers with checkered histories, there is not much that the regulator can do to stop this practice because it is not illegal. This is undoubtedly causing even more investors to suffer…
Former Stifel, Nicolaus Broker is Accused of Variable Annuity Violations The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has suspended an ex-Stifel, Nicolaus (SF) broker for four months over variable annuity transactions that he purportedly inappropriately recommended to certain investors. At the time of the alleged variable annuity fraud, James Keith Cox worked…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has put out a disciplinary complaint against Walter Marino. The former broker worked for Legend Equities Corp. in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida at the time he allegedly facilitated variable annuities sales that were unsuitable for two of his older clients. According to the regulator, Marino…
Investor Awarded Over $1M After Allegedly Misleading Sales Pitch by Wilbank Securities Broker A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel has awarded investor Grace S. Huitt over $1 million in her broker fraud claim against Wilbanks Securities. According to Huitt, one of the firm’s brokers presented her with a sales pitch…