The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has sanctioned Moloney Securities Company, Inc. (Moloney Securities) concerning allegations Moloney Securities failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system, including written policies, regarding the sale of leveraged, inverse and inverse leveraged exchange-traded funds (Non-Traditional ETFs) that was reasonably designed to meet the requirements…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently sanctioned brokerage firm Carolina Financial Securities, LLC (Carolina Financial) concerning allegations that the firm failed to conduct proper due diligence on private placements sold by the firm. Carolina Financial has been FINRA member since 1997 and operates out of Brevard, North Carolina. The…
A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel recently ordered Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. (Ameriprise) to pay two elderly California investors $1.17 for recommending the investments in Tenants-in-Common (TIC), real estate related investments that eventually failed. Brokerage firms, such as Ameriprise, having increasingly turned to alternative investment products such as…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctioned and fined Hantz Financial Services, Inc. (Hantz Financial) $75,000 concerning allegations that between April 2004, until April 2011, Hantz Financial violated FINRA rules by failing to properly enforce its written supervisory procedures for conducting due diligence with respect to a non-exchange traded real…
This article continues the findings of The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that led to sanctions against Royal Securities Company (Royal Securities) concerning allegations Royal lacked adequate supervision and controls in several areas. FINRA found that from 2009 through 2011, Royal Securities failed to establish adequate supervisory systems to ensure…
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), in coordination with other Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff released guidance and observations concerning investment advisers due diligence process for selecting alternative investments. The OCIE has observed that investment advisers are increasingly recommending alternative investments to their clients in lieu of…
Private Placements are considered alternative investments and are issued under Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933. Regulation D contains rules for issuing securities that provide exemptions from the more rigorous Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration requirements and allows companies to issue securities without normal disclosures. Investors who…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently sanctioned broker Michael A. Barina (Barina) over allegations that Barina failed to conduct reasonable due diligence into the offering a private placement security. In addition, FINRA alleged that the broker commingled certain funds. Barina first became registered with FINRA in 1999. Barina was…