United Development Funding IV Shares Fall After Allegations of Texas Ponzi Scheme United Development Funding IV (“UDF IV”), a Texas-based real estate investment trust (“REIT”), saw its share price drop after Harvest Exchange published a post that said the REIT had been run like a Ponzi scheme for years. United…
In the wake of regulator scrutiny, Voya Financial Advisors is once again placing restrictions on its sale of variable annuities. The regulators are wondering whether the products are appropriate for investors who are saving for retirement. Variable annuities have been getting a lot attention from regulators from FINRA, the U.S…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. panel says that AIG Advisor Group (AIG) subsidiary Royal Alliance Associates Inc. must pay $1.4 million to three retirees who claim that the brokerage firm was negligent when supervising the sales of variable annuities and nontraded real estate investment trusts. The investors, who were…
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has agreed to steps that will allow for the easier identification of brokers who have been barred from the securities industry yet continue to sell other products. The association is tasked with providing states regulatory guidance, as well as drafting model laws. It…
James “Jeb” Bashaw, the former star financial adviser at LPL Financial (LPLA) from Texas is now registered with International Assets Advisory, a small brokerage firm. LPL Financial fired Bashaw last month over allegations involving selling away. Then, for a while this month, he was with Wunderlich Securities Inc. Selling away…
According to his report on the central registration depository, LPL Financial (LPLA) branch manager James Bashaw was fired last month for allegedly engaging in selling away, which involves taking part in private securities transactions without written disclosure or approval from a brokerage firm, as well as borrowing from a client…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred Jo Ellen Fischer, an Raymond James independent financial advisor, for purportedly stealing nearly $1 million from a 95-year-old client. At the time, Fisher worked for Peoples Bancorp. According to the self-regulatory organization, from July to December 2013, the Raymond James advisor converted $924,750…
In a settlement reached with the Illinois Securities Department, LPL Financial (LPLA) agreed to pay a $2 million fine and $820K in restitution for inadequate books and records maintenance involving 1035 exchanges. According to the firm’s BrokerCheck file, LPL Financial did not enforce “supervisory system and procedures” when certain persons…
According to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority chief risk officer Carlo di Florio, variable annuities continue to among the products named the most in customer complaints. He spoke at the Insured Retirement Institute’s Government Legal & Regulatory conference in D.C. on Monday. Di Florio, who is also the head of strategy…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed charges against brokers Michael A. Horowitz and Moshe Marc Cohen, investment adviser BDL Manager LLC, and four others for their involvement in a variable annuities scam. The financial fraud purportedly aimed to make money from the deaths of terminally sick patients living under…