New York Securities Fraud Lawyers BlogJust yesterday, FINRA announced that it has fined Iowa-based broker-dealer Berthel Fisher $775,000 for failures to adequately train and supervise brokers selling alternative investments, such as real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), and non-traditional exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), including leveraged and inverse ETFs. In addition to REITs and ETFs, Berthel brokers also reportedly sold managed futures, […]
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Leveraged and Inverse ETFs Can Spell Trouble for Investors Who Buy Them and Brokerage Firms Who Sell Them
Just this past week, two brokerages units of Stifel Financial were ordered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) to pay more than $1 million related to the sale of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). Of the more than $1 million to be paid, $550,000 comes in the form of a fine to be […]
Malecki Law Investigates Unsupervised Sales of Leveraged and Inverse ETFs
Malecki Law is currently investigating whether investors were improperly sold Leveraged and Inverse Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) by any of the following Broker-Dealers: Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co, LLC, UBS Financial Services, and Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that they had fined the above firms for selling […]
Malecki Law Announces Investigation into Leveraged and Inverse ETFs
Malecki Law is currently investigating Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) brokerage firms who have advised customers to purchase leveraged and inverse ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds), including those issued by Direxion, ProFunds (ProShares) and Rydex. Some of these ETFs trade under the symbols FAS, FAZ, UPRO, SDOW, SPXU, UDOW, RSU and RSU, among many others. From […]
Outrageous ETFs: Not Appropriate for All Investors
Forbes.com recently published an article entitled “The 15 Most Outrageous ETFs“. The article highlights the explosion in the Exchange Traded Fund (“ETF”) market and the growing trends in ETF development: the kinds of funds that have New York securities attorneys up in arms. Since 2006, over 900 new ETFs have been launched. These funds utilize […]
NYSBA’s Current State of Crypto Cases Panel
On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, Malecki Law’s Jenice L. Malecki, Esq., will participate in a virtual panel organized by the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA). This is a joint effort by the NYSBA’s Commercial and Federal Litigation Section’s Securities Arbitration Committee and the Dispute Resolution Sections’ Securities Disputes Committee. Ms. Malecki will speak alongside […]
Can My Broker or Investment Advisor Sell Me Cryptocurrency?
Can my broker or investment advisor sell me cryptocurrency (“crypto”)? Is it an investment? The answer is not so simple; no, they cannot sell it directly, but they may try to sell it to you indirectly through a fund or private placement. Rest assured, it is still just as volatile and not appropriate for most […]
“Crypto Creep”: Retirees and Conservative Investors Are Discovering That Their Brokerage Accounts Are Becoming Increasingly Exposed to the Speculative Risks of Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Your Financial Advisor Has a Duty to Disclose These Risks
Few would dispute that Cryptocurrency – whether Bitcoin, Ethereum, or the thousands of other smaller coins – is a speculative and risky investment. The volatility alone in these coins was showcased this past weekend, with Bitcoin suddenly plunging over 25% from nearly $57,000 to just over $42,000 per unit. This is mere weeks after Bitcoin […]
Volatility in U.S. Oil Prices – Can I Sue My Broker for Putting Me Into Risky Oil Investments?
U.S. oil prices have been on a roller coaster ride over the last few weeks, at one point dropping below $0 for the first time in history to -$37.63 a barrel. Oil has since rebounded from its subzero levels, but it remains questionable as to whether it can stay there. It begs the question, what […]
Malecki Law Investigating Investor Losses in Oil and Energy Investments
In March 2020 Oil prices had their worst day since 1991, plunging to multi-year lows. Tensions between Russia and Saudi Arabia and OPEC’s failure to strike a deal were escalated by the global economic slowdown spurred by COVID-19 resulting in oil’s worst day since 1991. With oil’s and the energy markets substantial price plunge the […]