Cody represents investors who have lost money or been harmed by fraud and other financial misconduct.
This blog is intended to provide information to the general public and to practitioners about developments that may impact investors in Oregon and across the country.
These back-office services can include anything from compliance to risk analysis to identifying investment options. The adviser benefits by outsourcing services and functions that they would otherwise have to take care of in house.
The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services published its Summer 2022 issue of Common Ground this week. It includes an article about cryptocurrencies and NFTs and another about a lawsuit against Safeguard Metals, LLC and others that Oregon joined.
We wrote about Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) in a Stoll Berne Investor Blog post more than a year ago. At that time, SPACs were attracting attention as a way for businesses to raise funds in public markets without having to use a traditional IPO that would value the company through market-based price discovery.
The United States Supreme Court recently held that waiver of the right to arbitrate is not conditioned on a showing of prejudice. The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Morgan v. Sundance, Inc. (May 23, 2022) has important implications for investors who are considering claims against financial advisers or brokers.
Dutch Bros, the coffee shop company headquartered in Grants Pass, Oregon issued its Form 10-Q for the quarter ending March 31, 2022. The Form 10-Q is available through the SEC’s EDGAR database.
The SEC recently published an Investor Bulletin with important information about interest charges on margin accounts. Trading on margin is not free. Like other borrowed money, broker-dealers that lend money to investors to trade on margin charge interest. These interest charges increase risk, reduce an investor’s return, and increase the amount of money an investor must earn to break even.
The SEC Division of Examinations announced its 2022 examination priorities in late March. The priorities include a “focus on private funds, environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, retail investor protections, information security and operational resiliency, emerging technologies, and crypto-assets.”
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.
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.
The Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (DFR) warned Oregonians about a type of pyramid scheme called gifting clubs.
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.
Many investors are surprised to learn that an advisory or account agreement limits or bars the investor from bringing a claim in court.
Special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”), sometimes referred to as blank-check companies, have captured headlines and the attention of individual investors in recent months.
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.
Metals.com and its parent company, TMTE, Inc., along with Chase Metals, LLC, Chase Metals, Inc., Barrick Capital, Inc., and its principals Lucas Asher (aka Lucas Thomas Erb, aka Luke Asher) and Simon Batashvili are alleged to have run a nationwide fraud that brought in more than $185 million in money from customers to buy fraudulently overpriced gold and silver bullion.
Mistakes made by even well-intentioned financial advisers, stock brokers, promoters, solicitors, and others who give investment advice or sell financial products sometimes come to light when markets are volatile or when a bull market ends.
Investors have access to free electronic search tools through self-regulatory organizations, federal, and state regulators to research investment firms and professionals. This post describes several free tools that give access to information beyond what you can learn using Google and other search engines.
On August 26, 2020, the SEC adopted amendments to the definition of “accredited investor.” Many private capital market offerings…
