FINRA has sanctioned National Securities Corporation for numerous violations, including failing to comply with reporting obligations and failing to enforce written supervisory procedures related to its reporting obligations between May 2015 and November 2018. National Securities Corporation was also sanctioned for failing to establish, maintain, and enforce written supervisory procedures…
**Update: 3/22/2021** Ms. Cowden has been the subject of two additional customer disputes since November 2020. First, in November 2020, a customer filed a securities arbitration complaint alleging $400,000 in damages concerning a real estate security recommendation. The causes of action included breach of fiduciary duty, unauthorized trading, and elder…
On October 9, 2020, FINRA suspended Donatas B. Vildzius from the securities industry for six months and fined him $5,000. This sanction is the third time Mr. Vildzius has been suspended by FINRA, with previous suspensions in 2006 and 2014. Donatas Vildzius is a stockbroker and registered representative at Network…
FINRA has filed an enforcement complaint against Stephen Sloane, alleging that from January 2014 to January 2018, he recommended an unsuitable investment strategy to at least 14 customers. The complaint alleges that Sloane did not have a reasonable basis for recommending that his customers engage in active, short-term trading of…
On August 12, 2020, Morgan Stanley and FINRA entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”) over allegations that it failed to reasonably supervise its former broker Kevin Gunnip. As part of the AWC, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay a $175,000 fine and was censured by FINRA. It…
Today, UBS Group AG announced that its net profit almost doubled in the third quarter to nearly $2.1 billion from $1.05 billion from a year earlier. Meanwhile, as UBS and other large investment banking firms continue to rake in huge profits, UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy investors continue to suffer avoidable…
FINRA has suspended Frank Venturelli from the securities industry for 11 months. Frank Venturelli was a financial advisor and registered representative at the following firms: Arive Capital Markets, Bay Ridge, NY (September 2019 to December 2019); and First Standard Financial Company LLC, Red Bank, NJ (November 2014 to September 2019).…
The global campaign promoting investor education and protection kicked off this week. Securities regulators in the U.S. issued a joint investor bulleting highlighting key themes for investors. Among them, the benefits of holding long-term investments, the rise of COVID-19 scams, the need for investors to use resources available to confirm…
We are proud to announce the launch of our securities arbitration boutique, Iorio Altamirano LLP. We intend to build a client-focused national practice that offers a bold approach and aggressively pursues the recovery of investment losses on behalf of clients. Our new firm will represent individual investors, groups of individuals,…