The United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) recently issued a Staff Bulletin which discussed the use of sales contests or other sales incentives by FINRA Broker-Dealer firms in the context of SEC Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). Reg BI, 17 CFR 240-15l-1, specifically describes the “best interest” obligation as follows in section (a)(1): “A broker,…
Continue reading ›Shawn Edward Good, who was a registered broker with Morgan Stanley it its Wilmington, North Carolina office, was recently barred by FINRA by consent agreement. Mr. Good also has a pending SEC Complaint against him alleging the following involvement in a ponzi scheme: From 2012 until 2022 Mr. Good solicited customers to transfer funds to…
Continue reading ›The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a Complaint charging a Broker-Dealer for the first time with a violation of the recently enacted Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI). The subject of the Complaint was Western International Securities, and five of its registered brokers, Nancy Cole, Patrick Egan, Andy Gitipityapon, Steven Graham, and…
Continue reading ›Former Richmond, Virginia Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. financial advisor Warren E. Rowe Jr. was barred from the securities industry by FINRA recently after an investigation related to alleged loans taken from customers. According the the FINRA Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent found here, Mr. Rowe refused to provide documents in response to a request…
Continue reading ›McLean, Virginia based law firm Greco & Greco, P.C. is currently investigating the activities of Ameriprise and its former financial advisor, James W. Dunn, who operated out of an office in Vienna, Virginia. As more fully set out in his FINRA Brokercheck Report (www.brokercheck.finra.org), former Ameriprise financial advisor James W. Dunn resigned in October, 2021…
Continue reading ›Greco & Greco is currently investigating and filing FINRA arbitration claims for investors harmed by UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy. This strategy was marketed to UBS customers as a means to generate additional income on existing accounts with minimal risk. UBS claimed that the options program, which allegedly used an “Iron Condor” strategy, would a) generate…
Continue reading ›W. Scott Greco, working with local Puerto Rico co-counsel, represented multiple customers in FINRA arbitrations in 2019 against UBS of Puerto Rico that resulted in monetary awards to the customers. The first, a case involving overconcentration in risky UBS Puerto Rico closed end funds, resulted in an award of $4,813,161.00 which were the principal losses…
Continue reading ›FINRA recently entered a Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent regarding Capitol Securities Management Inc. regarding various alleged sales practice violations. The AWC can be found here: http://disciplinaryactions.finra.org/Search/ViewDocument/63638 The issues addressed by the AWC involved supervision, its anti-money laundering program, and the alleged unsuitable sales of Reverse Convertible Notes. FINRA stated at page 3: “CSM,…
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