In a 4-1 vote, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a rule that would now allow broker-dealers, hedge funds, and private equity firms to advertise to the general public for private placement securities offerings. Firms are still limited to sales to accredited investors. Accredited investors are defined as those who have…
Private securities offerings of oil and gas ventures pose a substantial danger for investor fraud. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), there has been an increase in the number of civil fraud cases related to oil and gas private placements. Investing in private placement offerings carries unique risks…
John S. Turo (a/k/a James S. Turo) recently reached a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) concerning allegations that he sold unregistered, nonexempt securities through general solicitation of the public in violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 and in violation of NASD Rule 2110…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has settled a dispute with vFinance investments, Inc. (vFinance) concerning several violations of the securities laws including selling private placements in violation of the securities laws, failure to supervise, failure to disclose that the firm had worked with a statutorily disqualified person, and failure…
On July 12, 2013, Sunset Financial Services, Inc. (Sunset) reached a settlement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) concerning allegations that Sunset failed to supervise the sale of certain private placement securities. FINRA accused Sunset of failing to establish and maintain appropriate supervisory systems in compliance with FINRA rules…