Kenneth Jones, a financial consultant previously registered with Aegis Capital Corporation in New York, New York, appears to have been terminated in May 2017 after an investigation that may have involved a failure to properly disclose outside business activities. Jones also appears to have since been barred by FINRA after failing to provide documents and information requested by FINRA. See FINRA brokercheck. If you are an investor who suffered losses with?Jones, or?Aegis Capital, related to the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.- On 12/7/17, the SEC announced that Paul W. Smith was being charged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in connection with his alleged raising of approximately $2.35 million from about 30 investors to whom he had represented the funds would be used to make investments in publicly traded securities through The Haverford Group, an outside partnership that Smith formed, but supposedly never properly disclosed to his broker-dealer employers (believed to be Bolton Global Capital in Wayne, Pennsylvania based on a review of FINRA Brokercheck). Smith is further alleged to have made very few securities investments and instead may have used the investor funds to repay other investors or for his own personal use. If you are an investor who suffered losses with Smith, or Bolton Global Capital related to the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.
- On 12/7/17, Financial Advisor Magazine or FA Online reported that FINRA is proposing to curtail expungements. The recently proposed changes from FINRA relating to arbitration procedures are presented in FINRA NTM 17-42 is aimed at stopping brokers from seeking expungements of customer complaints that may have accumulated over the years. FINRA wants to limit expungements to complaints that are no more than one year old. Some have criticized the one-year time limit as objectionable, unfair, and arbitrary, especially when you consider some financial advisors are not promptly notified when a complaint hits their record and others may not check their CRD database records routinely. If you have questions regarding customer complaints or expungement issues please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.
- InvestmentNews.com has reported that FINRA censured Investacorp for lax procedures that failed to detect when representatives were selling high priced funds to customers who could have paid less (between 2009-2016). Investacorp allegedly disadvantaged certain retirement plans and charitable organizations in selling mutual funds the way it did at that time. Investacorp is a subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann. If you are an investor who suffered losses with Investacorp, or Ladenburg Thalmann or the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.
- Lisa A. Allen (a/k/a Lisa A. Fowler) is a financial consultant currently registered with Calton & Associates, but previously registered with VSR Financial Services operating at times through an outside business activity known as Smart Money Group, LLC. VSR Financial Services closed operations in 2016, but it was known for sales of alternative investments such as non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), equipment leasing programs, oil and drilling programs, promissory notes, etc. In 2013, the then president of VSR (Donald Beary), was sanctioned by FINRA in connection with the sale of alternative investments and VSR is believed to have paid a fine of $550,000. See FINRA brokercheck. Alternative investments include non-publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), hedge funds, real estate, etc. These investments tend to be complex, illiquid, comparatively expensive, as well as opaque, and are often difficult to value. If you are an investor who suffered losses with Allen (a/k/a Fowler), Calton Associates, VSR Financial Services, or related to the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.
- On 12/4/17, Advisorhub.com reported that Goldman Sachs was fined $700,000 for failing to properly deliver prospectuses for certain Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) purchases, which was believed to be a supervisory lapse between 2008-2014. If you are an investor who suffered losses in your accounts from questionable activity, negligence, wrongdoing, or if you have other issues or questions related to the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.
- On 12/6/17, Advisorhub.com reported that an ex-Morgan Stanley broker who was supposedly burned by unit investment trust (UIT) investments that were recommended to clients was now spurning commissions. The article noted that Charles Anderson was suspended and fined by FINRA over allegedly unsuitable sales and trading related to UIT investment recommendations and he was terminated by Morgan Stanley over the UIT activities, and he has since given up his brokerage license after 31 years in the securities broker-dealer business. It was alleged that over a 29-month period Anderson had recommended UIT investments to 116 customer accounts and the sales charges ranged from 1.95% to 3.95% and he further recommended sales within a time frame of less than one year where the maturity dates for the products was two years or longer. Notwithstanding these allegations, it is believed that there were no customer complaints and sales charges were often waived. In addition, it is believed the recommendations were part of an overall broader portfolio investment strategy according to Anderson (who accepted the FINRA penalties without admitting or denying the findings by the regulator). In September 2017, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $13 million to settle charges that it allegedly failed to properly supervise short-term UIT sales by hundreds of brokers, and FINRA suspended another Morgan Stanley broker with a 30-year career over similar UIT trading pattern recommendations in 107 other accounts. Overall client assets in UIT investments are believed to have reached as much as $101 billion in December 2014, and down from that to approximately $83 billion (as of September 2017). If you are an investor who suffered losses in your Unit Investment Trust (UIT) investments, or from questionable activity, negligence, wrongdoing, or if you have other issues or questions related to the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.
- On 12/6/17, Advisorhub.com reported that LPL Financial has updated its standard employment agreement for its 14,200 registered representatives to ensure that it can claw back commissions from them if they commit sales practice violations. It is believed that the new 13-page agreement provides that brokers will refund commissions if they are found to have violated applicable laws or policies, such that the contract may strengthen the firm’s right or ability to collect from straying brokers. Between 2014 and 2016, LPL Financial absorbed more than $75 million in fines and restitution over sales practice violations. In May 2017, New Hampshire ordered LPL Financial to reimburse customers up to $8 million for non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) investment violations for which LPL Financial was previously fined $750,000, while Massachusetts imposed a $1 million fine against LPL Financial for supervisory failures. If you are an investor who suffered losses in your LPL Financial accounts, in non-traded REITs, or from questionable activity, negligence, or wrongdoing related to the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.
- George Warner, a financial consultant in Staten Island, New York, currently registered with Chelsea Financial Services, was previously registered with LPL Financial until he appears to have been terminated by LPL Financial regarding client signature issues. It also appears, Warner may have previously been terminated by NFP Advisor Services under similar alleged circumstance in or about November 2014 when he allegedly corrected a client document after it had been signed. In April 2017, there appears to be a FINRA regulatory inquiry relating to similar allegations as well. See FINRA brokercheck. If you are an investor who suffered losses with Warner, Chelsea Financial, LPL Financial, or NFP Advisor Services, or related to the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.
Kenneth Jones, a financial consultant previously registered with Aegis Capital Corporation in New York, New York, appears to have been terminated in May 2017 after an investigation that may have involved a failure to properly disclose outside business activities. Jones also appears to have since been barred by FINRA after failing to provide documents and information requested by FINRA. See FINRA brokercheck. If you are an investor who suffered losses with?Jones, or?Aegis Capital, related to the handling of your investment portfolio please call the Investment Loss Recovery Team at 1-800-856-3352 for a no-cost consultation and review.