by Brian Mahany “One day is fine, next is black So if you want me off your back Well come on and let me know Should I stay or should I go? … If If I go there will be trouble An if I stay it will be double… Should I stay or should I go…” […]
FINRA Arbitration Panel Slams Oppenheimer For Churning Customer's Account
by Brian Mahany Although the stock market has been doing relatively well in recent months, not everyone makes money. For every winner there is a loser. For retired Texan Lloyd Gillespie, he was the big loser while Oppenheimer and his brokers were the winners. An arbitration panel from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) agreed […]
Merrill Lynch Ordered To Pay Couple $1.3 Million – Securities Fraud
by Brian Mahany Every week we scan the arbitration decisions published by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Never a week goes by without several brokers being held to task for hurting the very customers that hired them for their financial expertise. Many times the brokers worked for little boiler room operations that simply disappear […]
Morgan Stanley Manager Claims He Was Fired For Being A Whistleblower
by Brian Mahany Unfortunately, story titles such as this one are all too common. Companies should welcome employees who are looking after the long term interests of the business and reporting internal wrongdoing. Unfortunately they often don’t, especially in the financial industry. According to published reports, a risk manager from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney claims […]
Cal Appeals Court Helps Bad Brokers Hide Their Record From Investors
by Brian Mahany We have long been a fan of BrokerCheck, the free web based database that allows the public to see what type of complaint and disciplinary history their broker has. To be sure, the system has some flaws but it is still a great way to perform your own due diligence on stockbrokers. […]
Bloomberg Column Calls For End FINRA Arbitration Panels
by Brian Mahany William Cohan, a journalist and author of a popular column on Bloomberg View, calls for the end of FINRA arbitration panels. For those readers not familiar with FINRA, the acronym stands for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Virtually anyone who has opened a brokerage account has signed an agreement saying that all […]
As The World Churns – FINRA Socks Stockbroker For $1.9 Million
by Brian Mahany Churning is a bad word in the securities industry. It happens when a stockbroker engages in excessive buying and selling of securities in a customer’s account. The motive is almost always high commissions. Each transaction generates a commission – the more turnover in an account the more the broker makes. (Investment advisers […]
New Rules Good For Defrauded Brokerage Clients
by Brian Mahany On Monday, new rules are in effect for stockbrokers, rules that benefit customers. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, issued new rules in late May to enhance due diligence requirements for stockbrokers. Those rules take effect July 9th. Investment advisers have long owed a fiduciary duty to their clients. Customers of […]
Four Stockbroker Giants Fined Millions For Selling Risky Investments
by Brian Mahany Everyday we seem to encounter another story of a big bank doing something wrong. Often it has to do with mortgage lending and foreclosure practices. Sometimes it involves helping Ponzi scheme fraudsters hide their crimes. Today’s story involves Citi, Wells Fargo, UBS and Morgan Stanley and their sale of risky investments. According […]
Postscript on Goldman Sachs Story
by Brian Mahany When Greg Smith quit Goldman Sachs, he did it in style. He wrote an Op-Ed in the New York Times. That piece would soon go viral and has been read millions of times. Smith’s piece has special meaning to us. It seems that fraud is running rampant these days. We get calls […]