FINRA, SEC, and state regulators are saying that the “free lunch” investment seminars for senior citizens are actually high-pressure sales pitches, involving fraud and misleading claims about financial products that are not suitable for its elderly audience. A report of these findings will be issued to the public this week.…
Only a tiny fraction of whistleblower claims against companies have been successful since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley law five years ago, raising questions about the ability of employees to raise the alarm about corporate malfeasance, a study claims. While corporate America whines almost daily about “burdens” placed by it…
“Mr. Chairman, there is no doubt financial fraud aimed at older Americans is real.” This astounding statement was made at the SEC’s Senior Summit by Mary L. Schapiro, the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the regulatory body formed by the merger of the National Association…
Sentinel Management Group, the Chicago-based money manager that the Securities and Exchange Commission has accused of misappropriating client assets and defrauding clients, is reportedly missing $505 million in its accounts. The National Futures Association found the shortfall during a recent investigation. The missing funds could bring up questions regarding a…
Industry arbitration critics want the Financial Industry Regulator Authority to forbid “public” arbitrators from having any connections to the industry. Although the majority of arbitration panels in the industry continue to be made up of one industry member and two “public” panelists, critics say that the public members are not…
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed charges against 26 defendants for their alleged involvement in a $428 million securities fraud scheme targeting thousands of senior citizens and other investors in the United States. According to the SEC action, filed in Chicago’s federal district court, the defendants participated in selling “Universal…
The new Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has launched a section on its website to provide online information for retail investors. The “Market Data” section on FINRA’s website provides data on equities, options, mutual funds and corporate, municipal, Treasury and Agency bonds. The site also provides a page for all stock…
The North American Securities Administrators Association Inc. of Washington (NAASA) plans a vote by its members by the end of this year on a proposal which would make it a violation of state securities regulations to “misuse, mischaracterize or fraudulently represent a designation that has little or no value,” said…
In one of the largest online stock manipulation campaigns in history, spammers sent out some 500 million e-mails last month advising recipients to invest in Prime Time Stores Inc. This prime example of “pump and dump” scamming involved spammers purchasing shares in a company, promoting it, and then waiting for…
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says that a number of mutual funds have started providing risk/return data with the use of interactive reporting language. Vanguard 500 Index Fund, Allegiant Advantage Fund, Muhlenkamp Fund, and American Funds’ Europacific Growth Fund are among the mutual funds that have taken what the…