Fired Wells Fargo Representative is Barred by FINRA The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced this month that it is barring former Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network broker, Leonard Charles Kinsman, from the industry. The ban comes after Kinsman refused to testify in the self-regulatory organization’s (SRO’s) probe into his…
Investment Losses During the Coronavirus Has Investors Scrambling for Answers If you are like many Americans with investments, you may be struggling to grapple with the massive losses affecting your portfolio as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to wreak havoc on the economy, the markets, the job industry, and people’s…
FINRA Orders Oppenheimer To Pay $3.8M Oppenheimer & Co. (OPY) must pay over $3.8M in restitution to customers who may have had to pay excess sales fees for the early rollovers of their United Investment Trusts (UITs). The order comes from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and includes an…
Kalos Capital And GPB Capital: What Is Their Connection? Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) is continuing to investigate and file cases against Kalos Capital and its financial advisors in relation to GPB Capital investments. Kalos Capital is a FINRA licensed broker-dealer which is a subsidiary of Kalos…
The United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has refused to overturn the US Securities and Exchange Commission ruling that Wedbush Securities Inc. engaged in inadequate supervision of its own regulatory compliance. The appeals court also affirmed the suspension of the brokerage firm’s president and principal Edward W. Wedbush. The…
FINRA Arbitration Panel Awards Allegis Investment Advisors Client $404,482 A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has awarded Mark Watson $404,482 in his unauthorized trading case against Allegis Investment Services, Allegis Investment Advisors, and ex-broker Brandon Curt Stimpson. Watson is accusing Stimpson of placing his life savings in investments…
New Hampshire Says Merrill Lynch Must Pay $400,000 For Not Complying with Telemarketing Rules Bank of America (BAC) Merrill Lynch has consented to pay $400,000 to resolve claims made by the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation accusing the firm of improperly soliciting business when it called people who were…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is ordering Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network (WFAFN) and Wells Fargo Advisors (WFA) to collectively pay $1.5M for anti-money laundering (AML) failures. According to the self-regulatory organization, the two brokerage firms did not comply with a main component of the anti-money laundering compliance program when…
FINRA Fines WGF Investments $700,000 for Supervisory Failures The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is fining WGF Investments $700,000 for failing to commit the attention, time, and resources to certain duties related to supervising registered representatives. WGF is a midsize independent brokerage firm. According to the self-regulatory organization, from 3/07-1/14, WGF…
FINRA is ordering Bank of America’s (BAC) Merrill Lynch to pay a $1.9M fine for violating fair price guidelines over seven hundred times during a two-year period. The financial firm also must pay restitution of over $540K to customers that were affected. According to the self-regulatory organization, Merrill’s credit trading…