Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog
Finance 500 fined $500,000.
In February, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Finance 500 of Irvine, CA submitted an acceptance, waiver and consent letter regarding its failure to effectively implement an anti-money laundering compliance program into its securities business. In agreeing to the AWC, the firm was fined $500,000.
FINRA’s allegations against Finance 500 concerned its participation in the trading of low priced securities. The firm did not implement a supervisory system designed to identify red flags in the trading of low priced securities, which allowed registered reps to open accounts without properly identifying the account holder’s information. The findings also criticized Finance 500 and its CEO Robert Hicks for failures in its market making activities in low priced securities, sales of unregistered securities, and its failure to review and retain email communications.
Registration and disciplinary history:
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, a firm must either be registered or exempt from registration. Finance 500 is an California corporation formed in 1982 and registered with FINRA, the SEC and in 52 states and territories.
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, Finance 500 has been the subject of five customer complaints and fifteen regulatory investigations.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery. For the past 23 years, we have dedicated our law practice to assisting investors who have been victims of investment fraud via fraudulent and unsuitable investment transactions. During that time we have recovered money for over one thousand individuals, pension plans, trusts and companies. The recoveries we have obtained via judgments, awards and settlements on behalf of our clients exceed $40,000,000.
When investors contact our firm they can expect prompt attention, and a detailed analysis of their issues. Typical claims that we are asked to review involve “unsuitability (where a financial advisor makes investment recommendations that are inconsistent with a customer’s investment objectives), claims for “churning” (where a broker enters into an excessive number of trades for the purpose of generating commissions), claims involving illiquid investments such as private placements (I.e., real estate investment trusts, limited partnerships, equipment leasing and oil and gas drilling programs) as well as claims for violations of state securities laws, which often provide investors remedies like attorney’s fees and interest, if they are successful on the claim.
If you suspect that you have been the victim of investment fraud, or had a financial advisor recommend unsuitable investments to you, call us today for a free, confidential consultation at (702) 380-3131.