Articles Posted in Investments In The News

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Stuart Horowitz, a former registered representative with the Coral Springs, Florida branch of Securities America, Inc., submitted a letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) sanction and findings that he made unsuitable recommendations and trades in CSMIF preferred notes of an unregistered limited partnership investment fund despite numerous red flags that the fund was not a viable investment.

FINRA found that Stuart Horowitz requested that his member firm, Securities America, quickly approve the CSMIF preferred notes fund so he could begin selling them.  While awaiting a third-party due diligence report, the firm agreed to allow Mr. Horowitz to offer the CSMIF preferred notes for sale to existing fund investors.  Mr. Horowitz emailed his customers with an interest in the fund and recommended they move forward with an investment conversion.  FINRA noted that recommendations were made despite the fact that Mr. Horowitz was aware of numerous red flags, including that his previous member firm had decided not to allow the sale of the CSMIF preferred notes due to concerns about the fund’s ability to generate income for investors. Continue reading →

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Master limited partnerships (MLPs) in oil and gas have been a highly recommended investment over the past few years. Many brokerage firms and financial advisors have advised clients to invest in these oil and gas energy stocks for the high yield or income potential. Touted to investors as secure, high quality income generating investments with only a moderate risk, these investments were anything but. Oil and gas MLPs are, in fact, risky and speculative because of their connection with oil prices. The massive slides in oil prices have caused these MLP investments to lose substantial value, which has resulted in substantial investment losses for many investors.

Brokerage firms and financial advisors should never have sold these risky investments to investors with conservative or moderate investment objectives. Unfortunately, these MLPs were often recommended to retirees and conservative investors who needed to protect their principal or earn income. Continue reading →

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The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has ordered Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC (Wells Fargo) to pay a $500,000 fine and $241,974.34 plus pre-judgment interest in restitution to customers for allegedly making unsuitable recommendations to customers to purchase structured repackaged asset-backed trust securities (STRATS).

From approximately 2005 to 2012, Wells Fargo made unsuitable STRATS recommendations to its retail customers, selling nearly $12 million worth of the complex structured products. According to FINRA, Wells Fargo failed to properly educate its registered representatives about the risks associated with STRATS and that the customers had the potential to suffer significant losses. FINRA also found that Wells Fargo’s internal-use STRATS brochures were not fair and balanced and neglected to provide an appropriate basis for evaluating the risks and therefore the suitability of the STRATS. Wells Fargo did not admit to or deny FINRA’s findings. Continue reading →

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According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), from February 2012 through January 2014, Christopher A. Novinger and Brady J. Speers, and their company NFS Group, LLC d/b/a Novers Financial (collectively the “Defendants”) fraudulently offered and sold life settlement interests. In so doing, the SEC claims that Mr. Novinger and Mr. Speers made false and misleading representations to prospective investors about their purported business experience and financial expertise and that the Defendants misrepresented the investments.

The SEC alleged that Mr. Novinger and Mr. Speers also constructed fake, meaningless titles for themselves to make investors believe that they were experienced and sophisticated financial advisers. The SEC alleged that Mr. Novinger and Mr. Speers used terms such as “licensed financial consultant,” “licensed consultant,” and “licensed financial strategist” toward that end. In truth, they had no training relating to securities and non-insurance related financial products, including life settlements. The SEC also alleged that the Defendants told investors that the life settlement investments were “safe,” “risk free,” “safe as CDs,” “the most secure, safe method for growing funds,” “federally insured,” and finally comprised of “polices insured with large, A-rated companies and backed by Federal Reserves.” Continue reading →

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The U.S. Supreme Court made its decision on a key 401(k) lawsuit, Tibble v. Edison. This suit was initially filed in 2007 by employees against their employers for having mutual funds with excessive fees in the 401(k) plan.

Their retirement plan had a selection of 40 funds, six of which were retail share class funds and are more costly than institutional share class funds. The U.S. District Court granted the plaintiffs a judgment of $370,732 from the high fees in three of the retail share funds. The other three funds appealed to the ninth U.S. Circuit Court of appeals and eventually to the Supreme Court. Continue reading →

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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has ordered Florida resident Anthony Lauria and his Fort Lauderdale, Florida based company, Gold Coast Bullion, Inc., to pay nearly $10 million for committing illegal off-exchange precious metals fraud.

The CFTC Order states that Gold Coast Bullion used telemarketers to solicit customers to invest in financed precious metals transactions. According to the CFTC Order, Anthony Lauria and the Gold Coast Bullion telemarketers represented to investors that in order to purchase the precious metals, they needed to deposit about 25% of the total metal value, that Gold Coast Bullion would arrange for the investor to receive a loan for the remaining 75%, and the investor would pay a finance charge on the loan. Continue reading →

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Jodie Linn Miller, a former broker with Tampa, Florida based LPL Financial, Inc. (LPL) and VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc. (VALIC), submitted a letter of acceptance, waiver, and consent in which she consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that she participated in unauthorized sales of unregistered Tri-Med securities to 14 investors.

FINRA found that Jodie Miller, of St. Petersburg, Florida, participated in the sale of unregistered Tri-Med notes to 14 investors. The Tri-Med notes ranged from $10,000 to $150,000 and Ms. Miller allegedly received approximately $38,225 in commissions from Tri-Med for the sales. According to FINRA, Ms. Miller neglected to tell both LPL and VALIC about her involvement with Tri-Med, nor did she obtain the necessary approval from the member firms to sell the unregistered Tri-Med notes. Continue reading →