A Montana regulator has filed a stop and desist order against broker-dealer Securities America related to its sales of private placements. The office of the state auditor for the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance in Montana alleged in an Aug. 5 order that Securities America and some of its executives, including Chief Executive James Nagengast, “withheld material information regarding the heightened risks” of promissory notes it sold that were issued by Medical Capital Holdings Inc.
Posts Tagged ‘Broker Dealers’
Montana Files Against Securities America for Medical Capital Blow Up
August 26th, 2010 
Before You Invest 
Posted in Finance Fraud 
Tags: Administrative Hearing, Ameriprise, Ameriprise Financial, Ameriprise Financial Inc, Broker Dealer, Broker Dealers, Cease And Desist Order, Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, Medical Capital, Omaha Neb, Placement Securities, Private Placements, Promissory Notes, Public Markets, Secretary Of The Commonwealth, Secretary Of The Commonwealth Of Massachusetts, Securities America, State Auditor, Stocks Bonds, William Galvin 
Comments Off1861 Capital Investigation Continues…
August 11th, 2010 Before You Invest Aidikoff, Uhl & Bakhtiari announces an investigation into the 1861 Capital Management municipal arbitrage funds sold by UBS and other broker dealers. The 1861 Capital funds imploded in February 2008, causing catastrophic losses to investors. “1861 municipal arbitrage funds were marketed to clients as a fixed income product producing a couple of extra points above municipal bonds,” according to Philip M.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: 1861, Arbitrage, Arbitration Panels, Asta, Bakhtiari, Bet, Broker Dealers, Capital Management, Catastrophic Losses, Citibank, Extra Points, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Fixed Income, Investors, Municipal Bonds, Traditional Portfolio, Truth, Ubs, Uhl, Volatility Comments OffUptick in Ponzi Scheme Filings At FINRA Arbitration
August 2nd, 2010 Before You Invest A year after Bernard Madoff went to prison for masterminding the largest-ever Ponzi scheme, lawyers and regulators say a growing number of these scams are preying on investors and their hunger for high yields.Razor-thin interest rates are squeezing the flow of income to Americans putting savings into CDs, money-market accounts and bonds.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Arbitration, Bernard Madoff, Broker Dealers, Charles Ponzi, Financial Crisis, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Investment Business, Money Market Accounts, Namesake, Phony Investment, Ponzi Scheme, Ponzi Schemes, Promissory Notes, Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Investment Trusts, Reits, S Broker, Scams, Stock Markets, Uptick Comments OffSEC eyes changes to shareholder voting system
July 14th, 2010 Before You Invest The Securities and Exchange Commission questioned the public to comment on changes to the voting system, including whether companies need more information about the identity of their shareholders.There are more than 13,000 meetings a year where shareholders can vote in person, via the Internet or by phone, or by mailing in a proxy form.The SEC issued a discussion paper to examine the accuracy and transparency of the voting process, shareholder participation and the relationship between voting power and economic interest.The agency is exploring whether rules are needed for proxy advisory firms and how to get more shareholders to participate in the governance of their companies.Schapiro has said she wants to give shareholders more say in how companies are governed.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Accuracy, Advisory Firms, Board Directors, Broker Dealers, Composition, Corporate Directors, Discussion Paper, Economic Interest, Governance, Investors, Priority, Relationship, Schapiro, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Shareholder Participation, Shareholders, Transparency, Voting Power, Voting System Comments OffWedbush Morgan broker Bambi Holzer’s Sale of Private Placements Including Provident Royalties Comes Under Fire
May 27th, 2010 Before You Invest A broker whose employment record is littered with customer complaints over variable annuities is now the focus of investor lawsuits over highly illiquid and risky private-placement investments. The broker, Bambi Holzer, has 42 settled customer disputes, according to information posted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Bambi Holzer, Broker Dealer, Broker Dealers, Customer Complaints, Customer Disputes, Employment Record, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Management Llc, Ponzi Scheme, Private Placement Investments, Private Placements, Private Securities, Provident, Registered Rep, Royalties, Securities And Exchange Commission, Sequoia Equities, Variable Annuities, Wedbush Morgan Securities, Wedbush Morgan Securities Inc Comments OffSEC proposes new trading system
April 16th, 2010 Before You Invest New proposals to introduce a trading system which would enable greater analysis of participants and their activity have been unveiled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).According to the regulator, ‘larger’ traders would be required to make a filing to the SEC before receiving a number of identification.Broker dealers would then receive the number, which would enable more efficient tracking of traders and their activity, the organisation clarified.Mary L Schapiro, SEC chairman, said: “This rule is designed to strengthen our oversight of the markets and protect investors in the process.“It would give us prompt access to trading information from large traders so we can better analyze the data and investigate potentially illegal trading activity.”The SEC defines a ‘large’ trader as an individual or firm whose transactions exceed $20 million or two million shares on any calendar day.Previously, the commission has proposed a number of changes to legislation to improve fairness within the trading markets.They included banning unfiltered access to markets and providing more transparency to liquidity dark pools.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Broker Dealers, Calendar Day, Dark Pools, Fairness, Investors, Legislation, Liquidity, Oversight, Participants, Proposals, Schapiro, Sec Chairman, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Trading Markets, Transparency, Two Million Comments OffSEC May Put Codes on Biggest Traders, Cap Option Fees
April 14th, 2010 Before You Invest (Bloomberg) — The Securities and Exchange Commission backed proposals today that would assign identification codes to monitor the largest stock traders and impose a limit on fees for options transactions.Commissioners voted 5-0 in favor of a program that would require firms that buy and sell at least 2 million shares a day to report their identity to regulators.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Abusive Practices, Broker Dealers, Brokerages, Dynamic Transformation, Hedge Funds, High Frequency, Kaufman, Lawmakers, Mary Schapiro, Milliseconds, Proposals, Rapid Technological Advances, Regulators, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Securities Markets, Stock Traders, Term Investors, Trading Strategies, Volatility Comments OffSEC to propose disclosure of high-frequency traders’ activities
April 8th, 2010 Before You Invest The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing that the identity of broker-dealers is revealed when high-frequency trades are made, insiders have said.Two unnamed sources told the Financial Times that the SEC is concerned about the current way in which high-frequency trading, which seeks out pricing and other discrepancies in markets through the use of computer algorithms, takes place.At the moment, the identity of broker-dealers carrying out such business is not shown up in audited trails – making it a hard sector to regulate.The new proposals would aim to improve this situation as part of wider reforms including the implementation of risk management controls.John Nester, SEC spokesman, did not confirm the precise details of the regulators plans but said: “Staff expect to make a recommendation in the very near future.”Last month, the new Financial Rules Bill proposed that all large hedge funds – those with assets of more than $100 million – must be registered with the SEC.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: 100 Million, Assets, Broker Dealers, Computer Algorithms, Disclosure, Discrepancies, Financial Times, Hedge Funds, High Frequency, Insiders, Nester, Precise Details, Proposals, Regulators, Risk Management, Securities And Exchange, Securities And Exchange Commission, Spokesman, Trades, Unnamed Sources Comments OffCredit Suisse Ordered to Pay FINRA Arbitration Award
March 25th, 2010 Before You Invest Credit Suisse Group AG, the largest bank in Switzerland by market value, was ordered by a U.S. judge to pay STMicroelectronics NV the remainder of a $431 million award over unauthorized investments in auction-rate securities.The arbitration award, ordered in 2009 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, was affirmed on March 19 by U.S.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Arbitration Award, Arbitration Case, Auction Rate, Broker Dealers, Credit Suisse, Credit Suisse Group, District Judge, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Group Ag, Judge Deborah Batts, March 19, Risky Securities, Securities Arbitration, Semiconductor Maker, Stmicroelectronics Nv, Straws, Student Loans, Unauthorized Investments, Underwriters, Unpaid Balance Comments OffProvident Asset Management Expelled for Offering Fraudulent Private Placement Deal
March 18th, 2010 Before You Invest The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has expelled Provident Asset Management, LLC, a Dallas based broker-dealer. The expulsion stems from a series of fraudulent private placement offerings marketed through an affiliate, Provident Royalties, LLC. Some have called the offering a Ponzi scheme, a massive one at that, involving thousands of investors.
Posted in Finance Fraud Tags: Actuality, Arbitration, Asset Management, Assurances, Broker Dealer, Broker Dealers, Expulsion, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Gas Leases, Investment Loss, Investor Funds, Management Llc, Mineral Rights, Oil And Gas, Older Investors, Ponzi Scheme, Private Placement, Provident, Retail Broker, Royalties Comments Off
