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 Some applications were withdrawn.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.

The alleged failures stretched over a two year period, according to the regulator.

Be aware of changes to retirement savings plans and alimony. Here’s what clients and advisors need to know.

Authorities say the now barred broker concealed his fraud through a variety of methods, including by creating falsified tax forms and lying to accountants.

The broker engaged the client in 11 private securities transactions involving private equity and debt securities in companies spanning a wide variety of industries, FINRA alleged.

The duo recommended an investment strategy that was overly concentrated in four speculative equity securities to more than 50 customers, FINRA alleged.

The industry has resisted the SEC’s Consolidated Audit Trail surveillance system ― dubbed CAT ― in its current form based on cybersecurity concerns.

The former broker met some of his roughly 60 victims through his associations with the NFL and the University of Virginia, where he also played football, federal prosecutors said.

Bradley Mascho helped Bennett defraud at least 46 investors, including many seniors, the regulator charges.

A recent report provides insights into the regulator's concerns, that include cybersecurity, anti-money laundering and alternative investments.

The bank's retail brokerage business sold customers shares in mutual funds with front- or back-end sales charges when they were eligible for Class A shares that waived the upfront sales load, FINRA claimed.