Articles Posted in SEC

The SEC is taking action against numerous companies for their false and misleading conduct related to COVID-19 Since February 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has temporarily suspended trading in over 30 stocks and filed several enforcement actions against individuals and microcap securities issuers based on fraudulent COVID-19-related claims. The enforcement actions have…

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…

Investor Choice. Since 1987, when the Supreme Court decided McMahon v. Shearson Lehman Brothers, investors have been denied their Constitutional right to a jury trial. Instead, if they have lost money through the fraud or negligence of a FINRA-licensed stockbroker, financial advisor or brokerage firm, investors are required to bring their cases through the FINRA…

Today is the last day of the chairmanship of Mary Schapiro at the SEC. As investor advocates, let’s look ahead at major issues for the SEC in 2013. It’ll be a busy year. There are at least five large-scale reforms under way, all with a bearing on the safety of equity investments. Mary Schapiro took…

(December 3) The Securities and Exchange Commission will be asked to approve an eight-month delay for the implementation of its massive Consolidate Audit Trail system. FINRA, along with the operators of the markets to be monitored by CAT (13 equity exchanges, 10 options markets, and more than 200 broker-dealers), will all ask to move the…

(September 25) A case to be decided this year by the U.S. Supreme Court may effectively extend the window of time for potential plaintiffs who suffered losses in the 2008 financial crisis. The case Gabelli et. al. v Securities Exchange Commission hinges on the application of the five-year statutory limitation time clock, called the “discovery…

Portland attorney prompts SEC to review disclosure loophole in financial adviser brochures