In Focus Reports submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February 2022, four brokerage firms from the Advisor Group network disclosed that they were respondents in 58 Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration cases. These arbitration cases, from July 2019 through the end of 2021, were over…
Ohio Financial Advisor Andrew Elsoffer Named in Multiple Customer Disputes Andrew Bruce Elsoffer, who Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. fired in 2018, is suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for two years, beginning March 7, 2022. The suspension comes in the wake of customer allegations that he exercised discretion…
Texas-Based GWG Holdings and its Directors Are Defendants in Class-Action Lawsuit Two investors seeking class-action status have filed a lawsuit against GWG Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: GWGH). They are accusing the Texas-based alternative asset manager and investor of life settlements, as well as its directors, of making misrepresentations and omissions in…
FINRA Arbitration Ruling Grants Largest UBS YES Award to Date A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel has awarded a deceased investor’s family trusts $1.857M in their securities case against UBS Financial. The broker-dealer had involved the late Irving Siegel’s QTIP Trust and generation-skipping transfer trust in its UBS…
Joint Provisional Liquidators & Deloitte Updates Credit Holders and Policyholders On February 23, 2022, Rachelle Frisby, the Deloitte Financial Advisory head in Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands, sent a letter to creditors and policyholders updating them about the liquidation proceedings involving Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) and Omnia, Ltd. (formerly…
Ex-NY Worden Capital Broker Barred After Allegedly Charging $1.6M in Commissions The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred ex-Worden Capital Management and former SW Financial registered representative, William Nicholas Athas. This bar comes in the wake of allegations that he engaged in excessive trading in customer accounts. According to…
Brokers Allegedly Involved Were Also Harvest Group Wealth Management Investment Advisers Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin has filed a complaint against Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments (PKS Investments), accusing the broker-dealer of failing to supervise its financial advisors. These advisors who were dually registered through another financial firm allegedly…
California Retiree Was Unsuitably Recommended Illiquid, Risky Investments An elderly Los Angeles investor has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against FSC Securities Corporation over investment losses suffered. He was unsuitably recommended certain high-risk investments, including Northstar Healthcare Income REIT (also known as Northstar Healthcare REIT) and…
Former MSC-BD Broker Robert Fehrman Made Unsuitable GPB Private Placement Recommendations A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel has awarded a widow $221K in compensatory damages, legal fees, and costs against brokerage firm MSC-BD, LLC over losses she sustained in GPB private placements. GPB Capital Holdings is accused of…
Firm Owes Millions to Investors of GWG High-Yield L Bonds Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) is looking into claims of losses by customers who purchased GWG L Bonds at the recommendation of Emerson Equity broker Tony Barouti. Unfortunately, it appears that Barouti, who is…