One of the well-known and strictly enforced rules in the securities industry is that brokers should not enter into undisclosed private loan transactions with their clients. A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was recently accepted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA’s) Department of Enforcement from Paul F.…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced this week that two Citigroup Affiliates, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI) and Citigroup Alternative Investments LLC (CAI), agreed to pay $180 million to settle charges of defrauding investors with false and misleading claims. According to allegations, these Citigroup affiliates had claimed that their…
The securities fraud attorneys are interested in hearing from investors with complaints involving Dwarka Persaud. Per his BrokerCheck Report, maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), Mr. Persaud is a registered stock broker with Buckman, Buckman & Reid, based out of Shrewsbury, NJ. Mr. Persaud’s BrokerCheck Report indicates that…
Per Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) announcement this week, a former registered representative of Caldwell International Securities Corp., Richard Adams aka Rasheed Aree Adams, has been barred permanently from the securities industry for churning customer accounts, other securities violations, and failure to report many unsatisfied judgments and liens on his…
Malecki Law is investigating potential claims by investors relating to Dennis C. Lee, a former AXA Advisors, LLC broker who was recently terminated by the firm in April 2015. According to Mr. Lee’s publicly available Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) BrokerCheck report, he was “discharged for failing to disclose financial…
Beware of alternative investments. A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was recently accepted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA’s) Department of Enforcement from Robert Michael Diehl. Mr. Diehl was accused of bypassing firm policy in order to sell equity indexed annuities (“EIAs”) while a registered representative of…
FINRA has announced that it has fined Aegis Capital Corp. $950,000 for sales of unregistered penny stocks and anti-money laundering violations. According to FINRA, this fine was also related to supervisory failures within the firm. The firm was not the only one that FINRA appears to have come down hard…
According to a recent Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (“AWC”) submitted by broker Brian Berger with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Mr. Berger has been banned from associating with a broker-dealer in the securities industry. According to the AWC, in June 2015 FINRA “initiated an investigation into allegations that Mr.…
It was an eventful week at Malecki Law with prominent stories in the press, speaking engagements at legal educational organizations, appointments to bar association committees, and introduction to securities fraud in different communities. Malecki Law announced the filing of a $25 million FINRA claim against UBS Puerto Rico on…
A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was recently accepted by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA’s) Department of Enforcement from Adrian S. Lauer. Mr. Lauer was accused of failing to disclose outside business activities on his Form U4 and to his employer. Specifically, Mr. Lauer was accused of violating FINRA…