Enforcement actions

The SEC says the 33% owner of the parent of the IBD network participated in unlawful microcap stock sales resulting in “virtually worthless” investments.

In response to a Supreme Court ruling, the regulator will revisit 126 legal proceedings, including nearly two dozen advisor cases.

The barred onetime Questar Capital and Woodbury Financial rep had pleaded guilty to the scam, which he says stemmed from a gambling addiction.

The regulator accused the four firms and the Advisor Group network of supervisory failures in sales of L-share VAs in separate but near-identical cases.

The rep helped the customer conceal the true source of funds into his accounts, FINRA claimed.

The broker-dealer failed to supervise Infinex registered reps selling annuities and other products to seniors and other investors at local banks.

The rep mismarked 105 trades in five PNC customer accounts as unsolicited when in fact they were solicited, FINRA claimed.

The rep cut and pasted or traced the signatures of 16 customers on more than 70 life insurance and annuity replacement forms and other documents.

The regulator barred an ex-Wells Fargo advisor for fooling the bank into reimbursing him for $3,400 after he falsely claimed that he was the victim of fraud.

The rep agreed to a six-month suspension and a $5,000 fine to settle claims that he wrote and deposited checks without sufficient funds to cover them.

The firm arranged to make transactions differently on the days that it was required to calculate its reserve deposits, the regulator says.

The advisor told the client that she could pre-pay her advisory account fees at a discount by writing him a $7,400 check, FINRA claimed.

Other states are likely to enter similar agreements with the broker-dealer.

The parade of ousted bank advisors continues, but unlike previous offenses, this time it involves far less money.

The broker used the funds to pay his mortgage, FINRA claimed.

While such an act may seem like career suicide, it can in fact be a move to do just the opposite, according to attorneys.

Co-chiefs of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement tout a program aimed at repaying investors for excessive mutual fund fees as a new approach to curbing industry abuses.

State regulators and the No. 1 IBD struck a settlement after investigators found the firm guilty of negligence and a failure to supervise.

The broker misappropriated his clients’ investment money for rent, credit card bills and other personal uses, investigators say.

The two IBDs have agreed to pay restitution in one of the largest securities fraud cases in the advisor’s home state.