Articles Posted in Industry Headlines

Today the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced a massive LPL Financial settlement with state securities regulators relating to over a decade of sales of unregistered securities by LPL brokers. Under the terms of the LPL Financial settlement, the firm agreed to repurchase from investors certain securities that were sold to them since October,…

Can investors bring a claim against Robinhood and other self-directed platforms for the recent purchase restrictions on GameStop, AMC, and other securities? The internet is buzzing with talk of class action lawsuits.  Our office is fielding inquiries.  But – from a claimants’ attorney perspective – there are high hurdles to overcome. The securities trading platform…

The securities attorneys at the Investor Defenders practice group of Samuels Yoelin Kantor LLP are investigating potential claims against this broker. Public records from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) show that in August 2018, Daniel Noah Winger (CRD# 1542674) entered into an Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) agreement in which Winger was barred from…

The securities attorneys at the Investor Defenders practice group of Samuels Yoelin Kantor LLP are investigating potential claims against this broker. Public records from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) show that Jamewon Jeewon Shin (CRD# 2436899) was suspended as of August 13, 2018, from associating with any FINRA member for failure to provide information…

Current cryptocurrency regulation and cryptocurrency investment regulation can be summed up in one phrase:  Regulation by Enforcement. I moderated a great panel presentation this weekend on Cryptocurrency Investments, Supervision and Securities Regulation at PIABA’s mid-year CLE event in Los Angeles on May 5, 2018.  We discussed the current state of regulation as well as the…

This past Thursday, the same day I posted about a recent FINRA Investor Alert regarding cryptocurrency, there was a new press release from the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) with further guidance on the same topic. NASAA’s analysis and warning amounts to this:  Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”), and all other investment products related to…

FINRA recently released an Investor Alert on cryptocurrency scams. Investors should be wary of jumping into this “hot,” volatile sector, and do their research before handing over their money to a potential fraudster, or for a risky investment that they don’t understand. In the last quarter, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple have received a…

On November 8, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that a broker named Hank Mark Werner of upstate New York had been barred from the securities industry. The headline: “FINRA Hearing Panel Bars Broker for Defrauding Elderly, Blind Customer”. The pattern of this behavior is outrageous but not all that unusual. It makes…

LPL Financial Bars Its Dual-Registered Advisors From Recommending 401(k) Rollovers in Brokerage Capacity According to an internal advisor memo, LPL Financial is prohibiting its “hybrid” or dual-registered advisors to recommend 401(k)to IRA rollovers to LPL clients in a brokerage capacity. Investment News reports that the policy was adopted in response to the Department of Labor’s…