Calif. life settlement broker shut down over alleged Ponzi scheme
A life settlement company and its principal allegedly created a $4.5 million Ponzi scheme that authorities say enabled him to put $21,000 toward his school loans, buy more than $5,000 in cowboy boots...
View Article‘Dramatic shifts’ from Dodd-Frank mean new advisor ‘importance’
“Dramatic shifts” in the investment advisor profession are forecast as advisors prepare for the Dodd-Frank Act, a provision of the federal financial service reform to be enacted next year. The number...
View ArticleSEC says Texas firm defrauded investors in life settlement transactions
Federal securities regulators say a Texas-based life-settlement firm and three of its senior executives “systematically and materially underestimated the life expectancy estimates,” which in turn...
View ArticleSEC accuses investment advisor of selling fake securities on LinkedIn
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused an Illinois-based investment advisor with offering to sell fictitious securities on LinkedIn, the social networking site. Anthony Fields of Lyons,...
View ArticleSEC issues two alerts over risks posed by advisors using social media
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued two alerts pointing out risks investors and advisory firms face when using social media like LinkedIn and Facebook. “Fraudsters are quick to adapt to...
View ArticleWillis investigating $28 million in fraudulent commissions, fees
Insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has begun an internal investigation into its discovery of about $28 million in fraudulent overstatements of commissions and fees between 2005 and 2011 in its...
View ArticleCosta Rican company pleads guilty to $670M fraud scheme
A Costa Rican insurance company pleaded guilty April 20 in federal court in Richmond, Va., to a $670 million insurance fraud scheme, while its majority owner’s trial began this week. Provident Capital...
View ArticleNAIC urged to force insurers to report political contributions
A consumer group has asked the association representing state insurance commissioners to force insurance companies to disclose all political spending from corporate funds. The action by Citizens for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MassMutual charged with securities violation, pays SEC $1.65 million
Massahusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. has agreed to pay a $1.65 million penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission after the insurance company was charged with securities law violations. An...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SEC outlines 2013 exam priorities to address ‘heightened risk’
The Securities Exchange Commission published its examination priorities for 2013, which cover a wide range of issues at financial institutions, including broker-dealers, clearing agencies, exchanges...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SEC charges two insurance execs with running $10M Ponzi scheme
Two Dallas-based executives of a medical insurance company have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with securities fraud and conducting an unregistered securities offering while...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Six-months in prison for former advisor in $1.8 million trading scam
Timothy J. McGee, a former Ameriprise financial adviser from Malvern, Pa., was earlier convicted in the U.S. District Court in Eastern Pennsylvania for his part in a $1.8 million insider trading scheme...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pa. lawyers file class action against Texas life settlement firm
A class-action suit has been filed by purchasers of securities from Life Partners Holdings (LPH), alleging that the Waco, Texas-based company and some of its officers and directors violated securities...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SEC: Standards should apply to broker-dealers, investment advisors
A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) study recommended that SEC extend the fiduciary standard of care to broker-dealers who provide personalized investment advice. Charles A. Moran The SEC...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Insurer sues investment firm for ‘shoddy’ mortgage securities
A Northbrook, Ill.-based insurer sued Goldman Sachs and its affiliates for allegedly selling the insurer more than $123 million in securities backed by poor-quality mortgages between 2006 and 2007....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Calif. life settlement broker shut down over alleged Ponzi scheme
A life settlement company and its principal allegedly created a $4.5 million Ponzi scheme that authorities say enabled him to put $21,000 toward his school loans, buy more than $5,000 in cowboy boots...
View ArticleClik here to view.
‘Dramatic shifts’ from Dodd-Frank mean new advisor ‘importance’
“Dramatic shifts” in the investment advisor profession are forecast as advisors prepare for the Dodd-Frank Act, a provision of the federal financial service reform to be enacted next year. The number...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SEC lists ‘heightened risk’ areas, unexamined advisors as 2014 priorities
Washington D.C. — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced its examination priorities for 2014, which cover a wide range of issues at financial institutions, including investment advisers and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fitch: Federal interest in captive insurance may confuse process
The federal government is becoming increasingly interested in the captive insurance market niche, an area currently regulated at the state level with little federal involvement, with the potential to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
NY, Calif. brokers charged with variable annuity scheme
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced enforcement actions against a pair of brokers, an investment advisory firm, and several others involved in a variable annuities scheme to profit from...
View Article
