StockCross Financial Services, Inc. (“StockCross Financial”), which was acquired by Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc. (“Muriel Siebert”), consented to a censure and $250,000 fine in connection with FINRA’s findings that between July 2009 and December 2019, StockCross Financial had no reasonable surveillance system to review solicited transactions for excessive trading…
On July 19, 2021, UBS Financial Services Inc. (“UBS”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) settled charges related to UBS’s failure to adopt and implement written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent unsuitable investments in volatility-linked-exchange-traded products (“ETPs”) between January 2016 and January 2018. As a result of…
On July 15, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced an award of more than $1 million to a whistleblower. According to Emily Pasquinelli, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, the whistleblower “played a crucial role” by providing the SEC with valuable information and ongoing assistance.…
FINRA has fined and censured Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. (“Laidlaw”) over the firm’s supervisory system, which according to the regulator, was not reasonably designed to achieve compliance with federal securities laws and FINRA rules prohibiting market manipulation. As a result, Laidlaw was fined $1.5 million. Additionally, the firm’s Chief…
FINRA has fined and censured NEXT Financial Group, Inc. (“NEXT”) over supervisory failures related to unsuitable short-term trading of mutual funds and municipal bonds, and over-concentration of customer accounts in Puerto Rican municipal bonds. NEXT was fined $750,000 and consented to provide a certification to FINRA, within 120 days, regarding…
**Update: November 11, 2021** On November 8, 2021, Aegis Capital Corp agreed to pay nearly $2.7 million in sanctions for supervisory failures related to excessive and unsuitable trading by its brokers from July 2014 through December 2018. Click on the following link to read more: Aegis Capital Corp. Ordered to…
**Update: November 11, 2021** On November 8, 2021, Aegis Capital Corp agreed to pay nearly $2.7 million in sanctions for supervisory failures related to excessive and unsuitable trading by its brokers from July 2014 through December 2018. Click on the following link to read more: Aegis Capital Corp. Ordered to…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has barred financial advisor Ronald Giovino from the securities industry for refusing to cooperate with a FINRA investigation into whether Mr. Giovino converted customer funds. FINRA launched the investigation after it received information through the FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors. Mr. Giovino has been…
FINRA has suspended Popular Securities, LLC broker Fernando Luis Monllor from the securities industry for 30 business days for using a pre-signed Letter of Authorization (LOA) from a customer to transfer assets among the customer’s accounts. Monllor’s suspension is scheduled to start on August 2, 2021, and end on September…
Iorio Altamirano LLP is investigating claims on behalf of Sanctuary Securities, Inc. (formerly David A. Noyes & Company) customers who invested in inverse and leveraged exchanged-traded funds. On July 1, 2021, Sanctuary Securities, Inc. and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent…