Florida Excessive Sales Charges Attorney - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Oct 23, 2015

12 More Independent Broker Dealers Fined by FINRA for Failing to Give UIT Discounts to Investors

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined a dozen independent broker-dealers (IBDs) for failing to give their clients the proper discounts available to them, known as breakpoint discounts, on sales of unit investment trusts (UITs). They were also cited for related supervisory failures. Some of the biggest fines were levied against First Allied Securities Inc. (First Allied), Fifth Third Securities Inc. (Fifth Third), Securities America Inc. (Securities America), Cetera Advisors LLC (Cetera Advisors), and Park Avenue Securities LLC (Park Avenue). FINRA ordered the 12 firms to pay both fines and restitution totaling $6.7 million. The other firms sanctioned were: Commonwealth Financial Network (Commonwealth Financial), MetLife Securities Inc. (MetLife), Comerica Securities (Comerica), Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Ameritas Investment Corp. (Ameritas), Infinex Investments Inc. (Infinex), and The Huntington Investment Company (Huntington Investment).

Oct 19, 2015

Six Independent Broker Dealers Fined by FINRA for Failing to Give REIT Discounts to Investors

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined six independent broker dealers for failing to give their clients the proper discounts available to them, known as breakpoint discounts, on large sales of certain nontraded REITs. The six firms are Voya Financial Advisors Inc. (Voya), Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. (Transamerica), Investacorp Inc. (Investacorp), J.P. Turner & Co. (J.P. Turner), National Planning Corp. (National Planning), and Cetera Investment Services (Cetera). The fines were levied in July and August and total more than $500,000. Voya and Transamerica were fined the largest amounts: $325,000 for Voya and $85,000 for Transamerica. The other fines levied against Investacorp, J.P. Turner, National Planning, and Cetera were: $50,000, $45,000, $30,000, and $30,000, respectively. All six firms were also ordered to pay restitution.