Broker Benjamin Cox (Cox) has settled charges brought by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) concerning improper sales of oil and gas private placement offerings sold by Red River Securities LLC (Red River). Cox accepted a one-year bar from the securities industry and a fine of $5,000. Cox entered the…
The financial abuse of seniors continues to be a significant problem in the United States. Nearly 40 million people are age 65 and older and the number is expected to grow to 89 million by 2050. However, even though seniors comprise of a large portion of the population they make…
Maurice Joseph Chelliah (Chelliah) was recently barred from the financial industry by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) over allegations that Chelliah converted $90,000 from two World Group Securities, Inc. (WGS) clients and made unsuitable recommendations to five WGS customers. FINRA alleged that Chelliah recommended that these customers refinance their…
Broker David Charles Kauffman (Kauffman) was recently barred by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) over his failure to respond to FINRA’s investigation over allegations that he engaged in personal private securities transactions, used unapproved email addresses, and introduced clients to individuals associated with non-approved investment opportunities. Kauffman began his…
Gevorg Daldumyan was recently barred from the financial industry by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) over allegations that he failed to appear for testimony concerning condominium cooperative investments. Daldumyan was registered with World Group Securities, Inc. (WGS) from 2002 through January 2012. Thereafter, Daldumyan was associated with Transamerica Financial…
Bad may be a little strong. There are not magic signs to determine if you have a bad bond fund. However, as Morningstar explains, there are red flags that investors can look at to determine if they are in a fund that is likely to fail. If a fund has…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigates broker-dealer’s actions, including cases of misrepresentation, market manipulation, theft of customers’ funds, illegal schemes and the sale of unregistered securities. If the broker-dealer violates a securities law, the SEC enforces administrative action and civil penalties. In other circumstances, an investor may file a…
You’ve gone over your account statements and start to suspect that your broker hasn’t invested your assets appropriately. What should you do? The first step is to compile all of your documents and correspondence with your broker. You should collect your monthly account statements, opening account documents, and any written…
UBS Puerto Rico operates 23 proprietary non-exchange-traded closed-end funds (UBS Funds). UBS is one of the key players in the Puerto Rico municipal debt market and has packaged and sold approximately $10 billion in municipal debt through the UBS Funds. It has been alleged that UBS marketed the UBS Funds…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently found that broker Dimitrios Koutsoubos (Koutsoubos) churned the brokerage account of Teddy Bryant (Bryant). The SEC’s decision ordered Koutsoubos to: (1) cease and desist from committing fraud; (2) be barred from association with a broker, dealer, investment adviser, (3) disgorge $30,000 plus prejudgment…