Investor Blog Archives - Stoll Berne | Attorneys | Class-Action, Securities, IP, Real Estate, Business Litigation

JPMorgan’s Recordkeeping and Supervisory Failures Violate Securities Laws, Lead to $125 Million Penalty

December 27, 2021

Categories: Investigations, Investor Blog

Tax Avoidance, IRAs, and Precious Metals

December 16, 2021

A recent Wall Street Journal article, A Couple Stored IRA Gold at Home. They Owe the IRS More than $300,000, is a reminder about what can be complex rules for using an IRA to invest in esoteric assets, such as gold, silver, platinum, and other precious metals.

Categories: Investor Blog, Laws and Regulations, Regulators and Enforcement

House Financial Services Committee Passes Bills Aimed at Protecting Investors

November 21, 2021

The United States House Financial Services Committee recently passed the Investor Choice Act, H.R. 2620. The Investor Choice Act, introduced by Representative Bill Foster, would prohibit broker-dealers, investment advisers, and others from including mandatory arbitration clauses in their customer agreements.

Categories: Investor Blog, Laws and Regulations

Stoll Berne Is Investigating the Use of Turnkey Asset Management Programs (TAMP) by Investment Advisers

October 20, 2021

Stoll Berne is investigating the use of Turnkey Asset Management Programs, often called TAMPs. We are interested in speaking with investors whose adviser or broker-dealer is using a TAMP as part of managing the investor’s account.

Categories: Investigations, Investor Alerts, Investor Blog

Carvana Sells Company Stock

September 18, 2021

In an article about insider stock sales at publicly traded companies, the Wall Street Journal reported that the father of the CEO of Carvana, an online car dealer, sold $3.6 billion in company stock since October.

Categories: Investor Blog

SEC Issues Wrap Fee Risk Alert

July 29, 2021

The SEC’s Division of Examinations issued a Risk Alert about wrap fee programs used by investment advisers. Wrap fee programs require advisory clients to pay a consolidated fee for investment advisory services and other expenses, such as commissions, trading fees, and administrative costs.

Categories: Investor Alerts, Investor Blog, Laws and Regulations, Regulators and Enforcement

Merrill Lynch Ordered to Pay Millions in Restitution and Fines for Supervisory Failures Relating to Unit Investment Trusts

July 20, 2021

Merrill Lynch submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) to FINRA regarding the firm’s failure to establish and maintain a supervisory system reasonably designed to comply with suitability rules for Unit Investment Trusts, also known as UITs.

Categories: Investor Blog, New Decision

Investors in Cryptocurrency Startup Win $12 Million Default Judgment Against The Game

June 25, 2021

Investors in a cannabis cryptocurrency startup obtained a default judgment for more than $12 million against rapper The Game and other defendants.

Categories: Investor Blog, New Decision

Beware of Gifting Club Schemes

June 11, 2021

The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) warned Oregonians about a type of pyramid scheme called gifting clubs.

Categories: Investor Alerts, Investor Blog

SEC Intends to Increase Performance-Based Fee Thresholds

May 12, 2021

The SEC gave notice of intent to issue an order that would increase the minimum assets under management or net worth that a client must have before an investment adviser may charge performance-based fees.

Categories: Investor Alerts, Investor Blog, Laws and Regulations, Regulators and Enforcement

Investor Choice Act Would Prohibit Forced Arbitration

April 29, 2021

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representative Bill Foster of Illinois introduced the Investor Choice Act earlier this month. The bill would prohibit broker dealers and investment advisors from forcing investors to agree to mandatory arbitration.

Categories: Investor Blog, Laws and Regulations

Missing: 200,000 Ghost Cattle

April 8, 2021

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused a Washington rancher, Cody Easterday and Easterday Ranches, Inc., of defrauding beef and pork producers by billing for cattle that never existed.

Categories: Investigations, Investor Blog

Arbitration Clauses in Investor Agreements

March 30, 2021

Many investors are surprised to learn that an advisory or account agreement limits or bars the investor from bringing a claim in court.

Categories: Investor Alerts, Investor Blog, Laws and Regulations

FINRA Will Release Information About Whether a Member Firm Is a Taping Firm on BrokerCheck

March 18, 2021

In Regulatory Notice 21-09, FINRA announced the adoption of new supervision and disclosure rules for brokers with a significant history of misconduct and the firms that employ them.

Categories: Investor Blog, Laws and Regulations

FINRA Panel Awards 93 Year Old Millions

February 26, 2021

Bloomberg reported about a wealthy 93 year old who brought constructive fraud, abuse of fiduciary duty, and other claims before FINRA against J.P. Morgan Securities, LLC and previously registered brokers and investment advisers.

Categories: Investor Blog, New Decision

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies May be Unsuitable for Individual Investors

February 16, 2021

Special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”), sometimes referred to as blank-check companies, have captured headlines and the attention of individual investors in recent months.

Categories: Investor Alerts, Investor Blog

Investors Sue Robinhood Over GameStop Stock Restrictions

January 29, 2021

Popular online stock trading platform Robinhood announced on January 28, 2021, “In light of recent volatility, we are restricting transactions for certain securities to position closing only, including $AAL, $AMC, $BB, $BBBY, $CTRM, $EXPR, $GME, $KOSS, $NAKD, $NOK, $SNDL, $TR, and $TRVG. We also raised margin requirements for certain securities.”

Categories: Investor Blog

TK Keen Named Administrator of Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation

January 6, 2021

The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) and its Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) announced that TK Keen, who has been serving as the acting administrator of DFR, has been officially appointed administrator of the division.

Categories: Investor Blog, Regulators and Enforcement

Margin Trading Is at Record Levels

December 29, 2020

Investors are borrowing against their portfolios at record levels, according to FINRA data about debit balances in margin accounts. As of November 2020, investors borrowed more than $722 billion against the value of their accounts.

Categories: Investor Alerts, Investor Blog

BlueCrest Settles SEC Trading Charges

December 15, 2020

BlueCrest Capital Management Limited, a United Kingdom-based investment adviser, agreed last week to pay $170 million to settle charges brought by the SEC in connection with BlueCrest’s trading.

Categories: Investor Blog, New Decision

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JPMorgan’s Recordkeeping and Supervisory Failures Violate Securities Laws, Lead to $125 Million Penalty

Tax Avoidance, IRAs, and Precious Metals

House Financial Services Committee Passes Bills Aimed at Protecting Investors

Stoll Berne Is Investigating the Use of Turnkey Asset Management Programs (TAMP) by Investment Advisers

Carvana Sells Company Stock

SEC Issues Wrap Fee Risk Alert

Merrill Lynch Ordered to Pay Millions in Restitution and Fines for Supervisory Failures Relating to Unit Investment Trusts

Investors in Cryptocurrency Startup Win $12 Million Default Judgment Against The Game

Beware of Gifting Club Schemes

SEC Intends to Increase Performance-Based Fee Thresholds

Investor Choice Act Would Prohibit Forced Arbitration

Missing: 200,000 Ghost Cattle

Arbitration Clauses in Investor Agreements

FINRA Will Release Information About Whether a Member Firm Is a Taping Firm on BrokerCheck

FINRA Panel Awards 93 Year Old Millions

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies May be Unsuitable for Individual Investors

Investors Sue Robinhood Over GameStop Stock Restrictions

TK Keen Named Administrator of Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation

Margin Trading Is at Record Levels

BlueCrest Settles SEC Trading Charges