Regulatory actions and programs

Critics say the practice of using non-attorneys, some with criminal records, to represent investors often makes their problems worse. Advocates say it's cheaper.

Special interest groups may weaken the Department of Labor’s best interest standard. Here’s why that’s bad for financial planners and their clients, according to one expert.

The firm displayed inaccurate ratings for more than 1,800 equity securities to its brokers, supervisors and retail customers, FINRA alleged.

Products that best fit clients would have to be offered before those that are most profitable to the sellers, the New York Department of Financial Services said.

The rep used his own money to pay the customer the interest she expected on a brokered certificate of deposit.

As a result of the violations, the firm created deficits in foreign and domestic securities valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, FINRA alleged.

The scheme ensnared about 8,400 investors, the regulator says.

Among FINRA’s findings, it said the broker-dealer “unreasonably excluded” some employees who were handling customer accounts from email scrutiny.

More than 15 similar products have been proposed since 2013. Some applications were withdrawn. Others are in purgatory.

To get in on hot IPOs, a client delivered cash payments to the broker at bars and restaurants, the regulator alleges.