New York Securities Lawyer BlogRecently, on May 17, 2012, investors won a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) arbitration award against David Lerner & Associates (“David Lerner”) based upon Claimants’ allegations that David Lerner committed sales practice abuses when selling the Apple REIT Nine. Claimants were awarded the full amount of damages they sought, in the amount of $24,450, and were required to return the Apple REIT to David Lerner.
Articles Posted in Uncategorized
Published on:
Investigating Sales Practice Abuses By Newbridge Securities Corporation and Gary Roy Albert
Newbridge Securities Corporation (“Newbridge”) is a broker-dealer that may have allowed unsuitable and fraudulent investments to be made in their customers’ accounts. Our investigation of these potential sales practice abuses focuses on whether Newbridge properly supervised its registered representatives. One specific Newbridge financial advisor we are investigating is Douglas Roy Albert. Specifically, we are investigating whether Newbridge properly obtained written authorization from clients to take discretion in their accounts, as required by various securities laws. Moreover, we are investigating whether Newbridge permitted its financial advisers, including Mr. Albert, to unsuitably invest their customers’ funds in structured products including, but not limited to, bank notes and CDs that were derivatives linked to complex indices and formulas, as well as low-credit quality junk bonds, including, but not limited to NBC Acquisition Corp., Colt Defense LLC and Edison Mission Energy. It should be noted that while Mr. Albert was employed by Great Eastern Securities, Inc., he was suspended from association with any NASD member in any capacity for 90 days based upon allegations that he altered an investor acknowledgement of risk with respective to real estate investment trusts for a customer, in that he changed the dates and account number on the document. Moreover, Mr. Albert’s previous employer, David Lerner Associates, disclosed on Mr. Albert’s BrokerCheck Report that Mr. Albert was discharged for allegations of unsuitability, misrepresentation, unauthorized trading, fraud, forgery, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty. If you are a customer of Newbridge or Mr. Albert and believe unsuitable investments were made in your account, contact Lax & Neville LLP for a free consultation.
Published on:
CFP Board Proposed Sanction Guidelines
Recently, the CFP Board filed proposals for heightened sanction guidelines to be imposed on certified financial planners (“CFPs”) who violate the CFP Board Rules. Lax & Neville LLP has experience representing individuals in CFP Board investigations, hearings and enforcement matters. A recent matter in which we were retained resulted in a complete dismissal of the CFP Board’s charges after a hearing. If you are a CFP and have received a complaint from the CFP Board or have been charged with violating CFP Board Rules, please contact our office immediately.
Published on:
Lax & Neville and Deutsch & Lipner Win $154,479 FINRA Arbitration Award In Lehman Brothers Structured Note Case Against UBS Financial Services, Inc.
On April 25, 2012, Lax & Neville LLP and Deutsch & Lipner, both leading securities arbitration law firms, won a FINRA arbitration award against UBS Financial Services, Inc. for improper sales practices and fraud in connection with UBS’s marketing and sale of a Structured Product – the Lehman Return Optimization Security tied to the S&P 500. UBS is reported to have sold as much as $1 billion of Lehman’s Structured Notes to its customers. It also sold other Structured Products which were mis-marketed and sold to UBS customers in inappropriate ways.
Published on:
Lax & Neville Investigates Nontraded REITs
Lax & Neville LLP, a leading securities arbitration law firm, is currently investigating possible sales practice violations in the sales of nontraded REITs by various firms to the public. Many investors have complained that they were told that nontraded REITs were stable, long-term investments. While some investors were told about the lack of a market for resale, others were not, or were never informed of the importance of liquidity. Some investors were told that these REITS invested in commercial real estate and that this asset class historically had performed well, without a full discussion of commercial real estate’s ups and downs. Since most nontraded REITs are only given a value once a year, it is difficult for investors to understand their value. Many investors have watched their REIT investments significantly plunge in value and still do not understand what they can do about it.
Published on:
“MAT FIVE INVESTMENT LOSSES -TIME MAY BE RUNNING OUT”
Lax & Neville LLP has been retained by several investors who lost money in MAT Five LLC (“MAT Five”), claiming it was inappropriately sold by Citigroup Inc. (“Citigroup”) in 2006 and 2007. MAT Five had a $500,000 minimum investment requirement and was promoted to fixed-income investors who were seeking preservation of capital. Citigroup represented that the MAT Five was designed to produce stable cash flows in a tax-advantaged arbitrage opportunity. In actuality, the MAT Five was a very risky investment. Based on these claims, Lax & Neville has filed numerous arbitrations against Citigroup on behalf of investors and customers of Citigroup who invested in the MAT Five; and has been successful in obtaining significant settlements for its clients who invested in the MAT Five. Numerous arbitrations awards have been rendered against Citigroup for sales practice abuses concerning the selling and marketing of MAT Five. In various instances, investors have been awarded their full investment loss in the MAT Five. Investors only have (6) six years from when they purchased the MAT Five to file a claim. Once the (6) six years have elapsed, an investor’s claim is no longer eligible for submission to FINRA arbitration. If you have lost money investing in the MAT Five, please call Lax & Neville LLP, (212) 696-1999.
Published on:
Former Morgan Keegan broker, Michael Venable, is Barred from the Securities Industry
FINRA has permanently barred former Morgan Keegan broker, Michael Venable, from the securities industry for investing his clients’ funds in highly leveraged Exchange Traded Funds, also referred to, as ETFs. According to FINRA, Michael Venable made the unsuitable investments for middle-class, unsophisticated and conservative clients with conservative investment objectives and risk profiles. Specifically, Michael Venable invested his clients’ funds in leveraged Direxion ETFs on margin. FINRA also ruled that Michael Venable engaged in excessive trading which generated high commissions for Venable.
Published on:
URGENT: The Deadline to File Motion to Withdraw the Reference to Judge Rakoff in Madoff Clawback Adversary Proceedings Is April 2, 2012
The deadline to file a motion to withdraw the reference of an adversary proceedings filed in the Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, Inc. (“BLMIS”) bankruptcy matter is quickly approaching on April 2, 2012. Judge Jed. S. Rakoff, District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, ordered that no motions to withdraw the reference will be considered if the motions are not filed on or before April 2, 2012. Lax & Neville, LLP has filed motions to withdraw the reference in approximately 50 adversary proceedings on behalf of hundreds of BLMIS customers. If you would like to have your case removed to federal district court by filing a motion to withdraw the reference, please contact our office immediately.
Published on:
Court Denies Merrill Lynch’s Motion to Vacate an $880,000 FINRA Arbitration Award Against Merrill Concerning the Merrill Lynch Phil Scott Team
In a Decision, dated March 9, 2012, Justice J. Lobis of the Supreme Court of the State of New York denied Merrill Lynch’s Motion to Vacate an $880,000 FINRA Arbitration Award against Merrill Lynch for purported sales practice abuses concerning the Merrill Lynch Phil Scott Team and the Merrill Lynch Phil Scott Team Income Portfolio. In its Decision, the Court stated, “there is no basis for the court to vacate the Award…Respondent has not made a showing that it was subject to a fundamental unfairness such that it was deprived of a fair hearing.” Accordingly, the Court confirmed the FINRA Arbitration Award against Merrill Lynch. During the arbitration process, Lax & Neville LLP focused on the Merrill Lynch Phil Scott Team’s disregard of industry and regulatory obligations. The Claimants asserted that the Merrill Lynch Phil Scott Team ignored the Claimants’ individual risk tolerances and investment objectives when it recommended that 100% of Claimants’ assets be invested in the Merrill Lynch Phil Scott Team Income Portfolio, which consisted of 100% equities. The FINRA Arbitration Award against Merrill Lynch was rendered on June 23, 2011.
Published on:
Problems Financial Advisors Face When They Don’t Adhere to the Protocol
On February 15, 2012, UBS Financial Services, Inc. (“UBS”) sued David Kinnear and his partner Kathleen Bakas, two former UBS financial advisors in Chicago, alleging that they took confidential information, including customer information, to their new employer Wells Fargo Advisers LLC. UBS is requesting that the court issue an injunction against Mr. Kinnear and Ms. Bakas, preventing them from soliciting any customers they advised while at UBS, and preventing their disclosure of any proprietary information. UBS also filed an expedited arbitration hearing against Mr. Kinnear and Ms. Bakas with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.