by Brian Mahany
Many investors believe the government will watch their back and protect them from investment frauds. While most will admit that the government can’t stop every fraud from occurring, few believe that the government itself can be charged with fraud. Think again. Federal regulators from the SEC brought the first ever complaint against a …
Tag Archives: investment fraud
SEC Sues New Jersey for Fraud (or What Happens When the Regulators Break the Law)
Clawbacks - Latest Tool in Fraud and Asset Recovery
Clawbacks! Friend or Foe - you decide.
by Brian Mahany
The term “clawback” is relatively new. In fact, you won’t find it in most dictionaries and even the on-line Wiktionary is quite vague in its definition; “Any recovery of a performance related payment based on discovery that the performance was not genuine.” But ask the victim or …
Do You Know Who Is Handling Your Money? You Should.
How Well Do You Know Your Financial Professional?
Recently I blogged about the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (”FINRA”) and the gaps in their “Broker Check” system. Since writing that piece, FINRA has begun correcting some of the problems. Unfortunately it is difficult to check the compliance histories of most other financial professionals. Few people know how …
Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force - Same Ole, Same Ole?
by Brian Mahany
In many ways, the United States government is more about public relations and propaganda and less about action. Take the recent press event in November announcing the creation of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
Facing rising public and political pressure in the aftermath of the last year’s financial meltdown, President Obama signed an …
Borrowing Money from Clients? FINRA says NO!
There was a small article buried in the financial papers this week - about a registered representative who borrowed $67,000 from a client. FINRA caught wind of the transaction, fined the broker $5000 and suspended his license for 1 year. In the process, they virtually guaranteed that his client (the lender of the $67,000) won’t …
Bad Broker, Clean Record?
by Brian Mahany, Esq.
A feature story in this morning’s Wall Street Journal, “Keeping Bad Brokers from Fading into Background” tells the sad truth about what industry professionals already know: Information about bad brokers can disappear in as little as 2 years.
It’s ironic that a 17 year old having consensual sex with a 16 year old …