The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has penalized a New York-based registered investment adviser and its veteran adviser for converting brokerage accounts into advisory accounts that resulted in significantly higher fees without providing additional services.
A FINRA arbitration panel has ordered Morgan Stanley to pay $843,000 in compensatory damages to a senior client residing in Florida for failing to protect her from financial fraud. As reported by ThinkAdvisor, the panel found the firm liable for negligence in a case that highlighted the growing risk of elder financial exploitation.
The number of brokers seeking to expunge customer complaints and other disclosures from their public records through FINRA’s arbitration forum has plunged 79 percent over the past year.
FINRA issued a reminder to financial advisors to carefully consider customers’ time horizons and risk tolerance, particularly when recommending investments using funds from a home equity loan, as reported by AdvisorHub.
Wells Fargo has agreed with U.S. banking regulators to enhance its financial crime risk management practices, including tightening controls over suspicious activity and money laundering.
A financial advisor affiliated with Equity Services Inc. (ESI) has agreed to a one-month suspension and a $5,000 fine after the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) found that someone else completed his required continuing education (CE) for a state insurance license renewal.
Vanguard Group has agreed to pay over $106 million to settle allegations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it misled retail investors regarding capital gains distributions and tax liabilities associated with its popular target-date retirement funds.
Scott Mason, former president of Rubicon Wealth Management, pleaded guilty to multiple fraud charges after federal prosecutors accused him of misappropriating over $17 million from clients, including his own widowed aunt.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has released its annual regulatory oversight report, emphasizing key compliance concerns for broker-dealers.
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including large language models (LLMs), present both promising opportunities and notable risks for financial advisors. According to Financial Planning, as the popularity of AI grows in the financial advisory sector, regulators like FINRA and the SEC are examining potential issues closely.
It was really fun seeing you fight for us. You have an amazing way of thinking out of the box.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) suspended former Morgan Stanley advisor C.J. Kline for two years and imposed a $5,000 fine for allegedly executing more than $180,000 in improper fund transfers between his personal and brokerage accounts.
Former Florida broker Jared Dean Eakes, 34, of Jacksonville, has pleaded guilty to wire and bank fraud in connection with a $2.7 million investment scam and a separate scheme involving over $4.75 million in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, according to U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida.
Three former Morgan Stanley advisors filed suit this week against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), claiming the agency exceeded its authority and was unduly influenced when it issued an advisory opinion that sought to undermine their deferred compensation claims.
