Earlier this week we warned about the risks of purchasing complex and exotic derivative securities. We also warned about illiquid real estate investments and how they can be difficult to sell when you need to raise cash. They may be perfect for some folks but are often a bad idea for seniors. Last Friday an […]
FINRA Notifies Brokers of "Heightened Supervision of Complex Products"
by Brian Mahany The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued a formal notice to stockbrokers earlier this week. The notice (12-03) advises of “heightened supervision” of complex financial products and echoes what we have said for years; don’t buy something if your broker can’t explain or you don’t understand it! FINRA defines a complex product as […]
SEC's New Approach to Enforcement
by Brian Mahany It’s easy to pick on the SEC… just think Madoff and all the times that the agency failed to heed warning signs and whistleblowers in that case. Since then, the SEC has rolled out a powerful whistleblower cash award program and has initiated dozens of new enforcement actions. While we still criticize […]