Brokerage Firms In The News - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Apr 9, 2025

The SEC Charges Former JP Turner Company Broker Dimitrios Koutsoubos for Churning Client Accounts

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged former JP Turner and Company broker Dimitrios Koutsoubos for churning client accounts with conservative investment objectives. Mr. Koutsoubos’s churning activity caused severe losses for clients, while he collected hefty fees. He served as a JP Turner registered representative from July 2000 until August 2009, and he is currently a registered representative at Caldwell International Securities.

Apr 9, 2025

The SEC Charges Former JP Turner Company Broker Jason Konner for Churning Client Accounts

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged former JP Turner and Company broker Jason Konner for churning client accounts with conservative investment objectives. Mr. Konner’s churning activity caused severe losses for clients, while he collected hefty fees. He served as a JP Turner registered representative from September 2006 until December 2011, and he is currently a registered representative at DPEC Capital, Inc.

Apr 9, 2025

FINRA Orders NEXT Financial Group to Pay Restitution to Investors Nationwide for Provident Royalties Sales

NEXT Financial Group has been fined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for failing to conduct adequate due diligence on private placement offerings by Provident Royalties. NEXT was responsible for selling tens of millions in Provident, which caused its investors to lose hundreds of millions of dollars. NEXT will pay a $50,000 fine and $2 million in restitution to clients. Also, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Provident of committing fraud, and at least one Provident broker has admitted to such allegations.

Apr 9, 2025

SEC Sues Walter Morales and Commonwealth Advisors for Hiding Losses from Mortgage-Backed Securities

The Securities and Exchange Commissions (SEC) has sued Walter Morales and his firm, Commonwealth Advisors, for swindling investors by concealing millions of dollars in losses suffered during the financial crisis from investments tied to residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS). The SEC accused the hedge fund manager of purchasing the lowest and riskiest tranches of collateralized debt obligation (CDO) called Collybus. Even though they Mr. Morales and Commonwealth were familiar with the facts that the RMBS market had declined sharply, they sold mortgage-backed securities into the CDO at prices they had obtained four months earlier. Because of the continuous poor performance of the CDO, management orders its firm to carry 150 deceptive cross-trades between the hedge funds they advised in order to hide a $32 million loss suffered by one of the funds in its Collybus investment. The firm even presented bogus documents to justify and certify their false valuations about the amount and value of mortgage backed assets held in hedge funds.

Apr 9, 2025

FINRA Files Complaint against Brookshire Securities Corporation’s Timothy Burke Ruggiero and Peter Shawn Chung for Stock Manipulation

Timothy Burke Ruggiero and Peter Shawn Chung, both with Brookshire Securities Corporation, have been named in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) complaint for allegedly assisting private companies in going public by reverse mortgages with publicly held shell corporations. FINRA is asserting that Mr. Ruggiero and Mr. Chung entered securities purchases and limit orders that manipulated the price of two stocks during the period of a private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering for the over-the-counter (OTC) securities. The complaint states that because Mr. Ruggiero and Mr. Chung controlled the member firm that was the placement agent for the PIPE offering, they would benefit from placement agent fees, stock, and warrants if the PIPE was successful. Mr. Ruggiero’s and Mr. Chung’s orders and purchases artificially created increases in the inside bid price for a stock, which sent generated false or misleading signals to prospective investors, who thought that the market placed a higher value on the stock – as the firms CEO, Mr. Ruggiero was responsible for the firm’s role in processing and submitting these orders. This scheme influenced investors into purchasing shares at an artificially increased price through the PIPE offering.

Apr 9, 2025

Raymond James & Associates Fined and Censured for Carelessly Releasing Client Personal Information

Raymond James & Associates has been fined $250,000.00 and censured by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allowing a firm employee to build and maintain an online document management system (DMS) for client records, which was eventually used to reveal client personal information on the internet. After the employee left Raymond James, the individual was no longer authorized to by the firm to receive personally identifiable information (PII) about firm clients. However, a branch office of the firm provided PII of numerous firm clients to the individual, and a second branch office provided the individual with PII of customers and their beneficiaries. FINRA’s findings also stated that subsequently, a client complained that her account information and PII were available on the internet. Raymond James had learned that while building and maintaining the DMS, the individual had carelessly posted customer PII to the internet.

Apr 9, 2025

Was the Oppenheimer Global Resource Private Equity Fund, L. P. Misrepresented?

The Oppenheimer Global Resource Private Equity Fund, L.P. (the “Global Resources Fund”) was launched by Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. (Oppenheimer) in April 2008. Oppenheimer raised over $200 million for the Global Resources Fund from investors throughout the United States. Over the life of the fund, Oppenheimer has reported valuations and performance to existing and new investors. The question recently raised by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is whether Oppenheimer misrepresented the valuation and performance of the Global Resources Fund to retain old investors, to avoid lawsuits, and attract new investors. The SEC and Massachusetts Attorney General’s office have been actively investigating Oppenheimer and the Global Resources Fund.

Apr 9, 2025

The Synergy Investment Group Lacks Supervision

The Synergy Investment Group, LLC (“Synergy”), a securities broker-dealer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina with 37 branch offices has been the subject of numerous disciplinary actions brought by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) F/K/A the National Association of Securities Dealers (“NASD”). The recent complaints have focused on Synergy’s inability to manage its branch offices and their offer and sale of private placement investments without management’s knowledge and/or adequate due diligence.

Apr 9, 2025

T. Rowe Price Fined for Failure to Deliver Prospectuses to Investors

T. Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc. (T. Rowe Price) has been fined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for violation of securities industry rules and regulations relating to the protection of investors. T. Rowe Price failed to implement and maintain adequate supervisory systems and procedures to monitor and ensure the timely delivery of mutual fund prospectuses as required by Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”), NASD Conduct Rule 3010 and FINRA Rule 2010. FINRA investigators discovered that T. Rowe Price failed to provide prospectuses to its customers who purchased mutual funds and other securities products during the period of its investigation – 2009 through 2011 (the “relevant period”). FINRA estimated that T. Rowe Price may have failed to deliver at least 2,500 prospectuses to its customers in a timely manner during that period.

Apr 9, 2025

State Farm VP Management Corp. Fined for Failure to Deliver Prospectuses to Investors

State Farm VP Management Corp. (State Farm) has been fined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for violation of securities industry rules and regulations relating to the protection of investors. State Farm failed to implement and maintain adequate supervisory systems and procedures to monitor and ensure the timely delivery of mutual fund prospectuses as required by Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”), NASD Conduct Rule 3010 and FINRA Rule 2010. FINRA investigators discovered that State Farm failed to provide prospectuses to its customers who purchased mutual funds and other securities products during the period of its investigation – 2009 through 2011 (the “relevant period”). FINRA estimated that State Farm may have failed to deliver at least 150,000 prospectuses to its customers in a timely manner during that period. Further, FINRA investigators found that State Farm failed to send updated prospectuses, which is also required under the law and industry rules to thousands of investors from 2001 through 2012.