Lax Oversight Purportedly Allowed An LPL Broker to Continue Defrauding Customers in Ponzi Scam The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined LPL Financial Holdings (LPLA) $6.5M due to purported supervisory inadequacies related to recordkeeping, fingerprinting employees that were non-registered representatives, and its financial advisers’ consolidated reports. The self-regulatory organization…
Coastal Equities Has Been The Subject of $3M in Investor Arbitration Claims Coastal Equities, a mid-sized broker-dealer, recently arrived at a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in which it agreed to give $280K in restitution to several customers. The firm is accused of failing to reasonably supervise…
Boca Raton Stockbroker Recently Named in Two FINRA Arbitration Complaints Willard Louis Pugh, a National Asset Management financial advisor in Florida, is currently under scrutiny in the wake of customer allegations alleging unsuitable investment recommendations. Pugh, who has been in the securities industry for 32 years, is also a National…
Morgan Stanley Settlement Includes FINRA Fine and Investor Restitution According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has consented to pay a $175K fine and more than $774K in restitution for allegedly failing to supervise its former broker Kevin Gunnip. The Texas-based financial representative is accused…
Wells Fargo Sold Non-Traditional ETFs to Retail Investors If you were an investor who suffered losses in non-traditional exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that you feel were unsuitable for you yet were recommended by a Wells Fargo investment advisor or broker, our ETF fraud attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK…
Centaurus Financial Broker Named In Multiple Customer Disputes If you suffered substantial investment losses while Centaurus Financial broker, Katherine Nishnic, was your registered representative, please contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LLP (SSEK Law Firm). We can help you determine whether you have grounds for a broker fraud case. According…
Four Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. (SF) clients were awarded $1.5M in compensatory damages in their Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration case against the brokerage firm. According to AdvisorHub, the claimants are accusing the broker-dealer of not properly supervising Stifel Nicolaus broker Kenneth D. Blumberg, who they contend invested up…
FINRA Panel Orders Hilliard Lyons to Pay Damages to Elderly Client In a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration case, Hilliard Lyons is ordered to pay 84-year-old Elizabeth Nickens $445K in damages for losses she sustained from alleged churning and unauthorized trading. Nickens claims that advisor Christopher Bennett made transactions…
Ex-Financial Adviser Who Worked for Texas-Based Firm is Barred by SEC After Defrauding Pro Athletes Ash Narayan, an ex-California financial adviser, has been barred by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Narayan, who is accused of secretly receiving almost $2M from companies that he invested in on behalf of his…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is ordering VALIC Financial Advisors Inc. to pay a $1.75M fine for purported conflicts of interest that impacted the way that the firm compensated brokers for selling annuities. According to the self-regulatory organization, from 10/2011 through 10/2014, the Houston-based financial firm established a conflict of…