We first began writing about Wedbush Securities in 2011. Back then, a headline indicating that Wedbush was ordered to pay $3.5 million to one of its own former employees. The amount alone was enough to warrant some investigation. It turns out that Wedbush has a long and sordid history with regulators. One that continues through […]
Wells Fargo Pays Millions To Settle Elder Fraud Allegations
Wells Fargo Advisors has repeatedly been caught pushing unsuitable investments on their clients. One would think that after all the scandals that have engulfed the beleaguered bank, senior management would start taking their customers more seriously. Our first post on Wells Fargo selling unsuitable investments was in 2011. It’s now 2021 and we are still […]
Cockroaching – New Trend in Investment Fraud Cases
“Cockroaching” – I must admit until I picked up today’s Wall Street Journal, I wasn’t familiar with term. Although the term was new to me, the underlying practice is unfortunately well known in the world of investment fraud lawyers. Cockroaching refers to the practice of stockbrokers jumping from one troubled brokerage firm to another. The […]
Massachusetts Targets REITs… Again
We have written many posts about REITs – Real Estate Investment Trusts. They can be great investments but many have liquidity problems. Stockbrokers often recommend them to the wrong customers as well. In May, Massachusetts Secretary of State William Gavin announced that five brokerage firms had agreed to pay restitution of $6.1 million to settle […]
Success Trades Securities In Trouble? FINRA Says Yes (stockbroker fraud post)
by Brian Mahany Success Trades Securities has a great name. They also have the financial backing of many NFL and NBA players. Regulators say that some of these players invested in the company in exchange for a promised rate of return between 12 and 26%. Banking news source bank rate.com says the average interest rate […]
Why It May Make Sense To Only Deal With Larger Brokerage Firms
by Brian Mahany My “in box” is likely to explode after people see the title of this post. But its true. Although large broker dealers and investment banks can fail (think Lehman Brothers or MF Global), smaller firms tend to fold far more often. An article by Bruce Kelly yesterday in the online edition of […]
Morgan Keegan Gets Zapped in 401(k) Plan Case
Morgan Keegan has been around since 1969. With 300 offices and 3000 employees, it certainly is one of the more established regional brokerage firms. Unfortunately, even well established firms sometimes employ “bad apples.” Morgan Keegan is no exception. Earlier this month, an arbitration panel of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ruled against the firm […]
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 […]
This Week's Sore Loser – Citigroup
by Brian Mahany It’s hard to have sympathy for banking giant Citigroup. Earlier this year, a group of investors won almost $50 million in damages against Citigroup Capital Markets. The award was made by an arbitration panel of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Most all disputes between the public and stockbrokers are required to […]
Appeals of FINRA Arbitration Decisions
Can I Appeal an Arbitration Award if I Lose? Recently we wrote about brokerage giant Raymond James taking on FINRA. An arbitration panel awarded an 87 year old man $1.7 million for mismanaging his brokerage account. Rather than pay the victim, Raymond James took the highly unusual step of challenging the award. A Dallas judge later […]