Texas-Based Brokerage Firm Accused of Overconcentration & Supervisory Failures NEXT Financial Group has arrived at a $750K settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to resolve claims that the Texas-based broker-dealer overconcentrated customer accounts in Puerto Rico municipal bonds and did not have the kind of supervisory system that…
Doraine Refused To Cooperate In FINRA’s Investigation The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred former Next Financial broker, Charles Doraine after he refused to give testimony in the self-regulatory organization’s (SRO’s) probe into allegations that he unsuitably recommended Puerto Rico bonds to customers. Already, Doraine has been the subject…
UBS Group Fined $51M By Hong Kong Securities Regulator The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) is ordering UBS Group AG (UBS) to pay a $51M fine for overcharging clients between 2008 and 2017. It is also ordering the Swiss banking giant to pay more than $25M in compensation…
Jose G. Ramirez-Arone Jr., who formerly worked as a broker for UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico (UBS-PR), has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for defrauding investors. Ramirez-Arone, also called Jose Ramirez and known by many on the island of Puerto Rico as “The Whopper,”…
The First Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a district court ruling from the lower court over whether bondholders of nearly $3 billion of debt issued by Puerto Rico’s Employees Retirement System (ERS) have a claim on the pension fund’s assets. The pension fund is designated for the island’s public…
Jose G. Ramirez-Arone Jr. (also known as Jose G. Ramirez, Jr.), a former UBS Financial Services of Puerto Rico (UBS-PR) broker, has pleaded guilty to criminal charges accusing him of defrauding investors while making over $1 million in improper commissions through the sale of Puerto Rico closed-end funds. Ramirez-Arone is…
Santander Securities LLC has notified its Puerto Rico clients by letter that its San Juan branch will shutter its doors to the public on May 25. Santander Securities (SAN) is Banco Santander’s investment division. The move is part of the investment wing’s plan to move to a service-only model rather…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Panel has ruled that UBS must pay claimant Antonio Gnocchi Franco $204,000 in compensatory damages and $66,000 in costs for his Puerto Rico bond fraud case. Franco, a Puerto Rico resident who was also the trustee of his law firm’s pension plan, accused the brokerage…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority panel has awarded five people $521,000 in compensatory damages in their Puerto Rico bond fraud case against UBS Financial Services (UBS) and UBS Financial Services Inc. of Puerto Rico (UBS-PR). The claimants had accused the financial firm of securities fraud, constructive fraud, common law fraud,…
According to a recent CNBC investigation, not only did UBS Puerto Rico (UBS-PR) fail to disclose to investors the risks involved in the bond funds UBS pushed on the island’s residents, but also the brokerage firm neglected to fully apprise its own brokers of the incredible risks. While these findings…