Investment Litigation Blog

On February 5, 2018, a new FINRA rule geared towards preventing financial exploitation of seniors  – also called elder financial abuse – goes into effect. This is new Rule 2165, which creates a limited safe harbor for brokers to put a temporary hold on certain disbursement requests from a brokerage account. The rule “permits members…

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 December 21, 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced it had fined brokerage firm Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. $2 million for significant supervisory failures in reviewing email communications. FINRA found that, over a nine-year period, Raymond James did not have a reasonably designed supervisory system and procedures for reviewing email communications. Why…

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…

The Investigation of Klamath Falls Financial Advisor George Merhoff Jr. and Cetera Investments, Pacific West Securities, Inc. Continues Customer Concerns Grow About Energy Stock Concentration and George Merhoff Our office continues to investigate Cetera Investments and its representative George Merhoff Jr. Since our last reporting, even more investors have called us to report that they…

It’s a new year and you’re looking to hire a broker or investment advisor to help you with your financial planning and investment decisions. What questions should you ask at that first meeting? FINRA recently released an Investor Education top 5 questions to ask: 1. What experience do you have working with people like me?…

Effective December 12, 2015, certain information provided on the registration termination paperwork (Form U5) for a brokerage firm or terminated broker will be accessible on BrokerCheck in 3 business days instead of 15. The SEC approved the proposed change to FINRA Rule 8312 (FINRA BrokerCheck Disclosure). The Form U5 includes important information for investors researching…

The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced Wednesday a settlement with brokerage firm LPL Financial. The settlement is the result of a multi-state investigation led by the Nevada Secretary of State Securities Division into LPL’s failure to implement adequate supervisory systems and failure to enforce its own written procedures regarding sales of non-traded REIT…