Plaintiffs can now bring class actions under state Blue Sky Laws against those who aided and abetted Ponzi schemes where the investment program was purported to be related to a security traded on a national stock exchange – a “covered security” under the Securities Litigation...
Colorado Financial Service Corporation (CFSC) was sanctioned by securities regulators after regulators accused CFSC of failing to conduct due diligence concerning private placements and non-traded real estate income trusts (REITs). CFSC agreed to pay a $10,000 fine levied against it by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority...
Portfolio Advisors Alliance, Inc. (Portfolio) was sanction by securities regulators, in part, due to Portfolio’s failure to perform due diligence concerning private placements, according to a settlement agreement entered into by Portfolio and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The Peiffer Rosca securities lawyers often represent...
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) recently announced that it was fining Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. (BBH) $8 million for failing to meet its compliance obligations relating to anti-money laundering compliance. Such failures caused BBH to fail to discover suspicious activity related to low...
Timothy David Burns, an investment professional in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, was sanctioned by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities. Burns, owner and manager of ESG Wealth Management and ESG Family Services, consented to the sanctions levied by the Department of Banking and Securities arising out of...
Thomas L. Hampton, a Scottsdale, Arizona investment professional, pled guilty to commodities fraud in connection with an investment scheme that defrauded investors out of millions of dollars between September, 2010 and September, 2011. Hampton managed Hampton Capital Markets (HCM). HCM held over $4 million of investors’...
According to a recent Cease and Desist Proceeding filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, to which Instinet, LLC (“Instinet”) has submitted an Offer of Settlement, from January 2009 through July 2010, Instinet approved approximately $430,000 in commission rebates to investment advisor J.S. Oliver Capital...
Vendetta Partners, a Texas Company ran by Robert A. Helms and Janniece S. Kaelin, had its assets were frozen by the SEC after being accused of running an $18 million Ponzi scheme in purported purchases of oil and gas royalties. Robert Helms and Janniece Kaelin spent most of their investors’ money on personal...
Moving at a pace that will soon make him a strong competitor with industry giants LPL and Ameriprise Financial, real estate investor Nicholas Schorsch has purchased five independent brokerage firms since June, 2013. In June, Schorsch announced the purchase of First Allied Holdings for an undisclosed amount. ...
Richard Schwartz, an investment advisor formerly in Kokomo, Indiana, has been accused by regulators of perpetrating a fraudulent investment scheme that victimized scores of investors across the country, under the umbrella of RAS & Associates, his investment advisory firm. Richard Schwartz was a licensed securities stockbroker,...
