TAG | finra securities arbitration lawyer
8
Provident Private Placement Paper Trail Lands on Fidelity’s Doorstep
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In an article from InvestmentNews.com, June 7, 2011, Bruce Kelly writes that the litigation stemming from a series of oil and gas private placements that failed two years ago have now ensnared a giant in the clearing and custody business, National Financial Services LLC, a unit of Fidelity Investments.
The trustee overseeing the liquidation of assets of Provident Royalties LLC, which the Securities and Exchange Commission charged with fraud in 2009, last month requested that a federal judge in Dallas issue a subpoena to National Financial. In the court filing, the trustee wants access to retirement account documents of clients of four broker-dealers that sold preferred stock of Provident and used National Financial as a clearing firm.
Bruce Kelly writes that dozens of broker-dealers sold the Provident offerings from September 2006 to January 2009, raising $485 million. Regarding National Financial records, the trustee wants documents of 579 clients who bought $39.1 million of Provident from four firms: J.P. Turner & Co. LLC, Milkie/Ferguson Investments Inc.,National Securities Corp. and Securities America, Inc.
A spokesman for National Financial, said the firm typically does not comment on matters involving its correspondent clearing, broker-dealer clients. Clearing firms do not sell securities but rather hold them for broker-dealers and their clients.
The InvestmentNews.com article goes on to say that calling Provident a “massive Ponzi scheme,” the trustee claimed that the “trustee is entitled to information concerning the relationship between the broker-dealers and their respective clearing houses, and how those funds were transferred, paid for and accounted for by the clearing houses,” the court filing stated.
“As custodial fiduciary, [National Financial] should have agreements with the various broker-dealers they did business with and records for every dollar that went through their controlled account,” according to the filing.
Last year the trustee sued dozens of broker-dealers to claw back revenue and commissions from the sale of Provident.
If you feel you have been an alleged victim of these or other broker-dealers and were sold Provident Royalties private placements, call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how to potentially recover your losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com.
Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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8
Did You Invest In Simply Fit Beverage Company’s Private Placement?
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Soreide Law Group, PLLC, is currently investigating the Simply Fit Beverage Company’s private placement offered by Rockwell Global Capital.
Simply Fit Beverage Company was located in South Florida and raised capital through Rockwell Global Capital. If you or a family member invested in Simply Fit through Rockwell Global Capital, call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how you could potentially recover your losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com.
Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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7
David Lerner & Associates Charged By FINRA With Soliciting Investors to Purchase REITs Without Fully Investigating Suitability
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WASHINGTON — On FINRA’s website, The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced May31,2011, that it has filed a complaint against David Lerner & Associates, Inc. (DLA), of Syosset, NY, charging the firm with soliciting investors to purchase shares in Apple REIT Ten, a non-traded $2 billion Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), without conducting a reasonable investigation to determine whether it was suitable for investors, and with providing misleading information on its website regarding Apple REIT Ten distributions. DLA has sold and continues to sell Apple REIT Ten targeting unsophisticated and elderly customers with unsuitable sales of the illiquid security.
FINRA’s complaint goes on to say that since January 2011, as sole underwriter for Apple REIT Ten, DLA has sold over $300 million of an open $2 billion offering of the REIT’s shares. Apple REIT Ten invests in the same extended stay hotel properties as a series of other Apple REITs closed to investors. Apple REIT Ten and the closed Apple REITs were founded by the same individual, and are all under common management. DLA has been the sole underwriter for Apple REITs since 1992, selling nearly $6.8 billion of the securities into approximately 122,600 DLA customer accounts. DLA earns 10 percent of all offerings of Apple REIT securities as well as other fees. Apple REIT sales have generated $600 million for DLA, accounting for 60 to 70 percent of DLA’s business annually since 1996.
This complaint against David Lerner & Associates (DLA) alleges that since at least 2004, the closed Apple REITs have unreasonably valued their shares at a constant price of $11 notwithstanding market fluctuations, performance declines and increased leverage, while maintaining outsized distributions of 7 to 8 percent by leveraging the REITs through borrowings and returning capital to investors. As sole distributor, DLA did not question the Apple REITs’ unchanging valuations despite the economic downturn for commercial real estate.
The FINRA article goes on to say that in its solicitation of customers to purchase Apple REIT Ten, DLA’s website provided distribution rates for all of the previous Apple REITs. These distribution figures were misleading and omitted material information because they did not disclose recent distribution rate reductions or that distributions far exceeded income from operations and were funded by debt that further leveraged the REITs.
FINRA alleges that DLA failed to sufficiently investigate the valuation and distribution irregularities of the closed Apple REITs prior to selling Apple REIT Ten. As the sole underwriter of all of the Apple REITs, DLA was aware of the Apple REITs’ valuation and distribution practices. Rather than conduct due diligence into those valuations and distribution irregularities to determine that they were reasonable and that the Apple REITs were suitable, DLA accepted the valuations and continued to record them on customer account statements.
This issuance of a disciplinary complaint represents the initiation of a formal proceeding by FINRA in which findings as to the allegations in the complaint have not been made, and does not represent a decision as to any of the allegations contained in the complaint. Under FINRA rules, a firm or individual named in a complaint can file a response and request a hearing before a FINRA disciplinary panel. Possible remedies include a fine, censure, suspension or bar from the securities industry, disgorgement of gains associated with the violations and payment of restitution.
This article was obtained on FINRA’s website.
If you or a family member have become a victim of the alleged fraudulent schemes of David Lerner Associates, Inc., call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how you could potentially recover you losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com. Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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6
Broker-Dealers Often Keep Insurance Licenses After Being Fired
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In an article from InvestmentNews.com, May 29, 2011, Bruce Kelly writes that Neal Smalbach was fired by a broker-dealer in 2008 for selling securities while he was unregistered, an infraction that got him suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) for six months, according to the organization’s BrokerCheck system. It was the second time that a securities firm had let him go. Though he no longer had a securities license, Mr. Smalbach still had a license to sell insurance, and made good use of it — at least for himself, authorities said.
Kelly writes that on April 29, Mr. Smalbach was arrested in Florida by the Pinellas County sheriff and charged with one count of insurance fraud and one count of organized fraud. Each count carries a maximum of five years in prison, along with a potential $5,000 fine. The charges of insurance fraud against Mr. Smalbach, who also has 37 pending customer disputes from his time as a broker, according to BrokerCheck, highlight a persistent problem in the investment advice business:
Registered representatives who permanently or temporarily lose their license to sell stocks, bonds and mutual funds often retain a license to sell insurance.
Although state agencies that regulate insurance agents and securities brokers try to work together to keep an eye on brokers who get fired from either side of the industry, regulators are sometimes limited in their authority because of a lack of information sharing about reps and agents, observers said.
A common criticism among registered reps is that insurance agents who lose a license to sell securities products often sell equity-indexed annuities, an insurance product that is nonetheless marketed as an investment that can compete with a mutual fund or variable annuity.
“It’s been an issue, and still is, among states,” said Joseph Borg, director of the Alabama Securities Commission. “If you’ve been kicked out of one end of the financial markets, you probably don’t need to be in another.”
According to the InvestmentNews.com article, Mr. Smalbach, 48, was selling mortgage insurance policies that promise to pay the balance of a policyholder’s mortgage in the event that he or she dies, according to Jeremy Powers, an assistant state attorney in Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit. But instead of mortgage insurance, Mr. Smalbach’s clients were, in fact, sold whole-life policies that were worth no more than $20,000.
“Somebody who’s had the level of problems that [Mr.] Smalbach appears to have had would create a risk for consumers,” Mr. Powers said. “The activities alleged in this case are pretty serious and had the potential to create multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars in victim losses.”
Smalbach, whose sales practices were profiled last month by the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, serve as a backdrop to efforts by lawmakers in Washington and regulators across the country to create a single fiduciary standard for investment advisers, registered reps and insurance agents. This year, a law went into effect in Florida that gives the state’s Department of Financial Services the power to revoke an insurance agent’s license immediately if the agent has his or her securities license revoked.
“Fraud is fraud,” said Nina Ashley, a department spokeswoman.
Kelly reminds us that when confronted with a broker whose securities license had been pulled — but who maintained an insurance license — regulators’ hands are, at times, tied. To take actions against a broker’s insurance license, Ms. Ashley said a specific insurance violation has to be found. “That didn’t always exist,” she said.
Florida already has used the new law to revoke the insurance license of a broker who misrepresented information when selling securities to a senior citizen, Ms. Ashley said. In February, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation permanently barred Jeffrey Donner on charges that he failed to disclose to clients that their accounts would automatically be billed advisory fees of 30% annualized, according to a statement from the agency. Approximately $40,000 in management fees were deducted from clients’ accounts. While Mr. Donner neither admitted nor denied the findings, Florida regulators revoked his insurance license this month according to the InvestmentNews.com article.
THEY ARE FINDING LOOPHOLES
We’ve learned that Mr. Smalbach, however, still has a license to sell insurance products such as life and health policies, and variable annuities, according to the Florida Department of Financial Services’ website.
The broker in question exploited another loophole in the law when he sold stock in a firm called Transfer Technology International Corp., whose shares are currently listed at less than a penny a share. At least a dozen elderly investors, some in their 80s and 90s, bought nearly $1 million of the stock from Mr. Smalbach, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Although he didn’t have a securities license, Mr. Smalbach was an employee of Transfer Technology and could sell shares in the company to accredited investors legally, the newspaper reported.
THEY ARE SMOOTH OPERATORS
Bruce Kelly writes that one longtime client of Mr. Smalbach who invested in the Wesley Chapel, Fla.-based company was Bob Fox, 78, of Sebring, Fla. A client of Mr. Smalbach’s for over a decade, Mr. Fox said he has lost $100,000 in his Transfer Technology investment.
“He was a really smooth talker,” Mr. Fox said, adding that Mr. Smalbach often hurried him through paperwork when buying an investment.
Mr. Smalbach’s former accountant, Robert Ferreira, corroborated Mr. Fox’s statement said the ex-broker often rushed clients through the process of buying investment products, including variable annuities.
“His method was to say, “Sign here, fill in this and that — I’m in a hurry and will fill in the rest at the office,’” Mr. Ferreira said.
If you or a family member have purchased policies through Neal Smalbach or other brokers and experienced a similar situation, contact an insurance fraud attorney for a free consultation on how to potentially recover your investment losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit stockmarketlawsuit.com.
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5
Finra files complaint against David Lerner Associates For REIT Sales to Elderly
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In a June, 2011, article from Bloomberg News, it was written that David Lerner Associates Inc. has been accused of targeting unsophisticated and elderly customers while selling real estate investment trust (REITs) shares without considering whether the illiquid security was suitable for its clients.
David Lerner Associates is based in Syosset, New York, and known for its “Take a tip from Poppy” advertising slogan, misled investors who bought more than $300 million of shares in the $2 billion Apple REIT Ten offering this year, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority(FINRA) said in a disciplinary complaint on its website. The firm denies the allegations, according to a statement.
It was reported in the Bloomberg News article that David Lerner Associates solicited customers for Apple REIT Ten, it provided misleading information about distribution rates for a series of predecessor securities that are now closed to investors, Finra said. The figures failed to show that distributions far exceeded income and were funded by debt that increased leverage in the REITs, which invest in extended-stay hotels, the regulator said. David Lerner Associates has sold almost $6.8 billion of Apple REIT shares to more than 122,000 customers since 1992, according to the Finra complaint, the industry-funded regulator for U.S. brokerages. Those sales have generated more than $600 million, accounting for more than 60 percent of the firm’s business since 1996, Finra said.
This complaint is the first step in a formal proceeding, Finra said. It isn’t filed in court, and the firm can request a hearing before a disciplinary panel, the regulator said in its statement.
“The firm conducted thorough due diligence of Apple REIT Ten’s offering documents and audited financial statements,” DLA said in its statement. “DLA will vigorously defend these claims. It looks forward to the opportunity to set the record straight and expects to be completely vindicated.”
Also, in the Bloomberg News article it was stated that in September, DLA paid a $255,000 fine for failing to provide required information in connection with the replacement of variable life insurance policies and annuity contracts from November 1998 through February 2004, according to the New York State Insurance Department. A year ago this month, DLA was accused by Finra of overcharging customers on sales of municipal bonds and mortgage securities. That case is still pending, according to Finra’s brokerage records.
If you or a family member have become a victim of the alleged fraudulent schemes of David Lerner Associates, Inc., call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how you could potentially recover you losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com. Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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In an article from Forbes.com, May 27, 2011, Zack O’Malley Greenburg writes that a little over a year ago, fund provider Direxion launched an ETF (Exhange Traded Fund) called the Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares. Its aim was to triple the performance of the PHLX Semiconductor Sector Index. Not as simple a task as it seems, apparently: Over the next seven months the index rose 5%, while the Direxion fund returned -6.25%.
Maybe investors should have heeded Direxion’s own disclaimer: “There is no guarantee the fund will meet its stated investment objective.”
This is the way of things in the world of ETFs, writes Greenburg, where offerings have exploded in recent years. Nearly 900 ETFs have been launched over the past five years, leading to a preponderance of funds that straddle the line from obscure to downright bizarre. Among them are leveraged ETFs like the aforementioned semiconductor fund that seek to double or triple the performance of sectors–and don’t always succeed. Examples range from the ProShares Ultra KBW Regional Banking ETF, to the Direxion Daily Agribusiness Bear 3x Shares ETF, which trades under ticker symbol COWS. There is also a smattering of international offerings, which comprised half of all new S&P-based index funds launched last year. Market Vectors parent Van Eck recently announced plans to launch a Mongolia ETF.
Forbes.com writes that there are a few ETFs so outrageous that they’ve already been shut down–for example, the HealthShares Dermatology and Wound Care ETF, shuttered in 2008 due to lack of demand. Others, like the PowerShares Dynamic Brand Name Products Portfolio and the PowerShares Autonomic Allocation Research Affiliates Portfolio, never even made it past the planning stages.
We are reminded that many obscure ETFs like Direxion’s leveraged semiconductor fund can be hazardous to investors who aren’t careful. These leveraged funds are designed for day-traders and backed by derivatives. Though providers warn that these funds are not meant to be held as long-term assets, many investors miss the fine print.
The Forbes.com article says that the SEC launched a review of all funds last March, deferring applications for “actively managed and leveraged ETFs that particularly rely on swaps and other derivative instruments to achieve their investment objectives” in the meantime. There has been a lot of concern generally about derivatives in the last few years, and specifically in our division about the use of derivatives by investment companies, including ETFs,” says Elizabeth Osterman, head of the exemptive applications office of SEC’s Division of Investment Management. “Our decision to defer the review of exemptive applications for derivatives-based ETFs reflects concerns about whether granting exemptive relief for those funds would be consistent with required regulatory standards in light of those concerns.”
Greenburg goes on to say that the SEC hasn’t yet resumed allowing providers to launch new leveraged ETFs, but it hasn’t banned existing products or disallowed existing issuers from creating new ones. The three leading providers of such funds–Direxion, Rydex and ProShares–now have something of a lock on leveraged ETFs. And no matter how outlandish their products may sound, they continue to be popular.
If you have invested in an ETFs and lost your investment, you may have valuable legal rights to be compensated for your losses. Call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer at Soreide Law Group for a free consultation on how to potentially recover your losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com.
Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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Puerto Rico and Global Income Target Maturity Fund, are two funds that are currently being investigated by Soreide Law Group, PLLC.
If you or a family member have purchased Puerto Rico and/or Global Income Target Maturity Funds, call Soreide Law Group, PLLC, for a free consultation about potentially recovering your investment losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com.
Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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28
Multiple Chinese Companies Listed on U.S. Stock Exchanges Shut Down by SEC
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Throughout 2010, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) began an investigation into Chinese companies in the United States that became public through a process called “reverse mergers.” The term, reverse merger, is also referred to as a reverse takeover or RTO. In an RTO, a Chinese company is acquired by an American “shell” company. An American shell company is a company which already has stock trading in the U.S., but the company does not operate a business or own assets. These Chinese companis merge into the shell. Through this process, the Chinese company can be brought public without the regulatory scrutiny of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process in the United Sates.
On February 1, 2011, the SEC charged eight individuals and three RTO companies – China Digital, Global Peopleline and m-Wise – in a $33 million fraud. The SEC alleges that defendants engaged in schemes to pump up the price and trading volume then dumped (sold) millions of shares of these securities into the market making millions of dollars in profits, leaving unsuspecting investors with shares worth next to nothing. Other such examples include China Energy Savings Technology, Fuwei Films, and China Water and Drinks.
The U.S. exchange trade officials have halted the trading of four Chinese companies brought public by WestPark Capital of California. WestPark brought the following four Chinese based companies public: NIVS IntelliMedia (NIV), China Intelligent Lighting and Electronics (CIL), China Century Dragon Media (CDM), and China Electric Motor (CELM). Allegedly to inflate their income statements and assets on their balance sheets.
If you or a family member have lost money in a Chinese company stock listed on a U.S. stock exchange call Soreide Law Group, PLLC, for a free consultation about potentially recovering your investment losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com. Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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25
Nuveen Investments Fined $3 Million by FINRA for Use of Misleading Marketing Materials Concerning Auction Rate Securities
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WASHINGTON — On May 23, 2011, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that it has fined Nuveen Investments, LLC, of Chicago, $3 million for creating misleading marketing materials used in sales of auction rate preferred securities (ARPS). The Nuveen Funds’ ARPS were a form of auction rate securities, which are long-term securities with interest rates or dividend yields that are reset periodically through an auction process. In contrast to other types of auction rate securities, the Nuveen ARPS were preferred shares issued by closed end mutual funds to raise money for the funds to use to invest.
It was reported on the FINRA website that by early 2008, over $15 billion of Nuveen Funds’ ARPS had been sold to retail customers by third-party broker-dealers. Nuveen did not sell the ARPS to customers, but in its role as distributor for Nuveen Funds, it created marketing brochures that were used by the broker-dealers who sold the ARPS to retail customers. The brochures were the primary sales and marketing material Nuveen created for the auction rate preferred securities. FINRA found that the brochures, also available on Nuveen’s website, failed to adequately disclose liquidity risks for ARPS. Nuveen neglected to include the risks that auctions for the ARPS could fail, investments could become illiquid and that customers might be unable to obtain access to funds invested in the ARPS for a period of time should the auctions fail. Instead, the brochures contained misleading statements which described the ARPS as safe and liquid investments. Also, FINRA found that Nuveen failed to maintain adequate supervisory procedures to ensure that the materials it used to market the auction rate preferred securities accurately described the features and risks of the securities.
Brad Bennett, FINRA Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement, said, “Nuveen was aware of facts that raised significant red flags about the ability of investors to obtain liquidity for their Nuveen auction rate securities yet failed to revise their marketing brochures to disclose these risks. This failure deprived investors of important information.”
It was reported that Nuveen failed to revise disclosures in their brochures after a lead auction manager responsible for approximately $2.5 billion of the ARPS notified Nuveen in early January 2008 that it intended to stop managing Nuveen auctions. On January 22, 2008, the lead manager did not submit support bids in an auction for a series of Nuveen auction rate preferred stock and that auction failed. FINRA found that the auction failure and Nuveen’s inability to find a replacement for the lead manager raised serious questions for Nuveen about whether investors in Nuveen’s ARPS would be able to obtain liquidity for the securities in future auctions. Despite this, Nuveen failed to revise its marketing brochures to reflect these risks and, thus, the brochures were misleading. In February 2008, widespread auction failures occurred throughout the auction rate securities market, including auctions for Nuveen funds ARPS.
The Nuveen funds have redeemed approximately $14.2 billion of the $15.4 billion of the ARPS that were outstanding on February 12, 2008. As part of the settlement, Nuveen agreed to use its best efforts to effect redemptions of any remaining outstanding Nuveen funds ARPS. Nuveen neither admitted nor denied the charges, but consented to the entry of FINRA’s findings.
This information was obtained on FINRA’s website.
If you or a family member have become a victim of the alleged fraudulent schemes of Nuveen Investments, LLC, call a Securities Arbitration Lawyer for a free consultation on how you could potentially recover you losses. To speak with an attorney, call 888-760-6552, or visit www.stockmarketlawsuit.com. Soreide Law Group, PLLC., representing investors nationwide before FINRA the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
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