Monthly Archives: July 2015

On July 28, 2015, The Investment News reported on the firm’s recent annual meeting for its advisers at which executives of the firm purportedly commented that the firm is “close to resolving significant enforcement actions.” (“LPL Financial CEO Mark Casady says Firm Close to Finish Line with Fines and Settlements”)

As noted in the article, “LPL has been in the spotlight over the past few years due to its host of problems with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. as well as state regulators. Two products that have caused LPL to pay fines or restitution to clients have been non-traded real estate investment trusts, a popular alternative investment, and variable annuities.”

Among the recent regulatory actions, cited in the article, is the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) matter in May of 2015 which ordered LPL to pay $11.7 million in fines and restitution for what it deemed “widespread supervisory failures” related to sales of complex products between 2007 and April of 2015. According to the FINRA settlement, LPL failed to properly supervise sales of certain investments, including certain exchange-traded funds, variable annuities and non-traded REITs, and also failed to properly deliver more than 14 million trade confirmations to customers.

The article also notes that, earlier this month, FINRA ordered LPL to pay $6.3 million in restitution to clients after it allegedly failed to waive sales loads for certain mutual fund shares sold between July 2009 and the end of 2014.

If you are an individual or institutional investor who has any concerns about investments having been recommended for purchase in either your retirement or non-retirement accounts by LPL Financial, please contact us for a no-cost and no-obligation evaluation of your specific facts and circumstances. You may have a viable claim for recovery of your investment losses by filing an individual securities arbitration claim with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

On July 24^th, FINRA permanently barred former Merrill Lynch broker Tom Buck from the securities industry. FINRA alleged that Buck engaged in unauthorized trading, improperly used commission based accounts when fixed fee accounts were more appropriate, and misled clients about fees they were paying in their accounts. Our firm is continuing to assist investors in their potential claims against Merrill Lynch and Tom Buck for all these matters.

Checkout the below links for more on this story:

FINRA Consent Agreement Buck

http://www.ibj.com/articles/54198-regulators-bar-adviser-tom-buck-from-securities-industry

http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20150728/FREE/150729893/fired-by-merrill-now-barred-by-finra-thomas-buck-stops-here

Steven B. Caruso, the Resident Partner in the New York City office of Maddox Hargett & Caruso, P.C., has been invited to participate as a speaker at the 2015 Practicing Law Institute (PLI) conference program that will be held on Thursday, July 30, 2015.

The PLI Securities Arbitration program will be held at the PLI New York Center and will also be broadcast online by webcast.  The program brings together leading legal professionals and securities industry regulators to discuss hot topics in the securities arbitration practice area.

For more information on this conference, visit:

http://www.pli.edu/re.aspx?pk=59146&t=THF5_SARB5

On July 21, 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported on a growing number of hedge funds who are looking to profit from an anticipated decline in the prices of exchange-traded bond funds (ETFs) and liquid alternative funds. (“Hedge Funds Gear Up for Another Big Short”)

Among the hedge funds, cited in the article, who are reportedly lining up in anticipation of potential trouble at some “alternative” mutual funds and bond exchange-traded funds that have boomed in popularity among retirees and other individual investors are Leon Black’s Apollo Global Management LLC, Oaktree Capital Management LP and Reef Road Capital LLC.

The predicate for their investment thesis is that the junk bonds, bank loans and esoteric investments held by some of those funds will be extremely hard to sell if the market turns, leaving prices pummeled in a rush for the exits.

As noted in the article, “critics said both sets of products suffer from a similar weakness. They promise investors the ability to trade in and out as they would with a stock, but the underlying securities trade far less frequently, meaning there may not be buyers waiting when the funds line up to sell.”

If this prediction should come to pass, the hedge funds would then offer the liquid-alternatives funds and bond ETFs cut-rate prices for thinly traded holdings like low-rated corporate debt and bank loans when they are forced to sell to meet daily redemptions.

Just last month, for example, it has been reported that BlackRock, Inc. asked the SEC for permission to borrow from some of its mutual funds to pay redemptions in others. A spokeswoman for BlackRock is quoted as having said the firm’s liquid-alternative products were among those it may use to take advantage of the practice. The SEC decision is pending.

If you are an individual or institutional investor who has any concerns about Bond ETF or Liquid Alternatives investments having been recommended for purchase in either your retirement or non-retirement accounts, please contact us for a no-cost and no-obligation evaluation of your specific facts and circumstances. You may have a viable claim for recovery of your investment losses by filing an individual securities arbitration claim with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

On July 17, 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported on a growing number of investors who are concerned as to whether a crisis is brewing in the expanding world of exchange-traded bond funds. (“Carl Icahn Fuels Criticism of Bond ETFs”)

Bond ETFs have emerged as one of Wall Street’s most lucrative niches in recent years, promising buyers the steady income of bonds in a package that is as easy to trade as stocks. Now, a building chorus of investors – including activist investor Carl Icahn – is warning that this best-of-all-worlds pitch may be a mirage. They argue that troubles could arise if the bond market has a sharp showdown, perhaps due to higher interest rates, and investors in ETFs start heading for the exits.

At a hedge-fund conference in New York on July 15^th, Mr. Icahn is reported to have said that “some ETFs have bought so many riskier and infrequently traded bonds that it isn’t clear who will buy them, or at what price, should the funds be forced to sell during a market panic.” In doing so, he joins skeptics who say “ETF selling could spread the effects of a downdraft, because the ETFs are widely held by individual investors, who often flee in a market downturn.”

As noted in the Wall Street Journal article, Bill Gross, who helped found bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. and now runs a fund for Janus Capital Group Inc., sent a note to investors last month bemoaning the lack of liquidity and how “mutual funds, ETFs, and even index funds” might be hit in a downturn. “The obvious risk – perhaps better labeled the ‘liquidity illusion’ – is that all investors cannot fit through a narrow exit at the same time,” Mr. Gross wrote.

If you are an individual or institutional investor who has any concerns about Bond ETF investments having been recommended for purchase in either your retirement or non-retirement accounts, please contact us for a no-cost and no-obligation evaluation of your specific facts and circumstances. You may have a viable claim for recovery of your investment losses by filing an individual securities arbitration claim with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

President Obama, one of the most prominent critics of Americans being taken advantage of by brokers and advisors for their retirement planning needs. Renewing his call for stricter rules in an effort to guard investors planning for retirement from conflicts of interest, proclaimed a new push to increase access to retirement plans.

http://www.onwallstreet.com/news/regulatory_compliance/fiduciary-rule-will-be-a-vital-consumer-protection-obama-says-2693511-1.html?zkPrintable=1&nopagination=1

The New York Stock Exchange halted trading around 11:32am today, stating it was due to technology issues. We will be investigating cases for investors that had losses related to the events that happened today, July 8, 2015. Follow this link to learn more on this developing story.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/07/08/investing/nyse-suspends-trading/index.html

FINRA recently sanctioned an Indianapolis stock broker for failing to obtain written authorization from his clients before purchasing investments in their accounts.  According to his CRD, John Miller of City Securities was suspended for 20 days and fined $10,000 by the regulator.  Maddox Hargett & Caruso is investigating these allegations.  If you believe your stock broker placed unauthorized investments in your account, please contact us.