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The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a Bahamian brokerage firm, MintBroker International Ltd., f/k/a Swiss America Securities, Ltd. and d/b/a as SureTrader, with illegally conducting business as broker-dealer in the U.S. without being registered.

Morgan & Morgan’s securities attorneys are investigating investor claims relating to Morgan Stanley and its registered representative, Barry Martin Speyer. Speyer works in Morgan Stanley’s Beverly Hills office. He may have engaged in unsuitable options strategies that resulted in substantial investment losses.  According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, Speyer previously has been the subject of multiple customer complaints, some of which resulted in monetary settlements and arbitratio

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged George Heckler, of Charleston, South Carolina, for conducting an alleged fraud via two private hedge funds, Cassatt Short Term Trading Fund LP and CV Special Opportunity Fund LP.  The SEC alleges that Heckler formed the two hedge funds to hide huge losses incurred by another fund that Heckler operated, Conestoga Holdings LP. According to the SEC's complaint, Heckler allegedly carried out the scheme over a ten-year period.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently suspended two ex-KPMG auditors from practicing before the SEC.  The suspension stems from settled charges against them for misconduct when auditing the not-for-profit College of New Rochelle, which has since closed its doors. The SEC previously charged the college’s controller with fraud relating to the college’s financial statements for 2015. As described in the SEC’s orders, former KPMG partner Christopher Stanley and former KPMG senior manager Jennifer Stewart approved or authorized an audit opinion on the college’s 2015 financial statements,

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently brought a civil action claiming that Morningstar Credit Ratings LLC breached federal securities laws when rating commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) by failing to make certain disclosures and maintain adequate internal controls. Market participants use credit ratings as part of their analysis when making investment decisions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged several defendants with operating a $1.7 billion Ponzi scheme. The scheme allegedly raised funds from securities issued by GPB Capital, a registered investment advisor based in New York.

Present Biden has nominated Gary Gensler to serve as Chairman of the SEC. Gensler is the former chair of the CFTC, and is seen by many as unafraid to impose tough rules on Wall Street. Investor advocates are optimistic that Gensler will protect investors in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds by strengthening regulations. Barbara Roper, director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America, stated: “He knows the markets as well as anyone on Wall Street.

FINRA recently announced that Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. (TFA) has agreed to pay $4.4 million in restitution to over 2,000 customers for failing to supervise its stockbrokers’ recommendations of variable annuities, mutual funds, and 529 plans. TFA also will pay a $4.4 million fine. According to FINRA, from May 2010 to May 2016, TFA did not properly supervise its registered representatives’ recommendations to buy variable annuities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged a British financial services firm, Global Investment Strategy UK Ltd. (GIS), with registration violations, alleging that GIS illegally cleared and settled billions of dollars of U.S. securities transactions without registering as a broker-dealer in the U.S. The SEC also charged GIS’s founder and principal, John William Gunn, with aiding and abetting the violations. According to the SEC's complaint, GIS provided clearance and settlement services from 2015 through 2019 to hundreds of U.S.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently charged John Stumpf (former Wells Fargo & Co.

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently obtained a final consent judgment against Garrett O'Rourke, a Florida resident, for running a multi-million dollar pump-and-dump scheme targeting elderly investors. O’Rourke will be required to disgorge over $5.7 million, plus prejudgment interest. The SEC alleged that O'Rourke partnered with Maryland resident Michael Black to fraudulently sell stocks of several microcap companies to retail investors, including many elderly investors.