Bad Broker Blog

At this point, broker-dealer firm Raymond James should be well aware of the damage it inflicted to investors of auction rate securities. This summer, the firm has been punished by FINRA in multiple states for securities violations dating back to before 2008.

Morgan Stanley securities brokers Julian Tzolov and Eric Butler have already been convicted for improperly selling $1 billion worth of auction rate securities. But last month, they were somehow rewarded with $4.5 million in retroactive signing bonuses.

A broker or major banks does not need to steal a million dollars from your to be unlawful and dishonest. Unfortunately, there are likely thousands of small frauds, not to mention errors that affect small transactions on a vast scale.

This summer, Raymond James Financial Inc. has had to repay $3.5 million worth of customers' auction rate securities, following three-straight arbitration decisions against the broker-dealer. Raymond James Financial is just the latest in a string of firms nabbed for supporting the phony auction-rate securities market.

Most people associate Goldman Sachs with Wall Street's problems, but a wag of the finger should also be aimed at other large firms that contributed to our economic meltdown. Last week Citibank Inc. paid $75 million to settle federal securities violations stemming from the sale of sub-prime mortgages in 2007.

In the era-of transnational corporations and global connectivity, trouble with the American economy is sure to affect the global market, and vice-versa. On Thursday, discouraging financial reports from Asia and Europe caused the Dow Jones industrial average to plummet 265 points.

Last week the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Morgan Stanley $800,000, in addition to a censure, for misleading its customers in crucial research reports.

Goldman Sachs has been in the news a lot for its role in the collapse of Lehman brothers and AIG. Now The New York Times reports that a FINRA arbitration panel has ordered Goldman to pay $20 million to the creditors of a hedge fund.

FINRA, formerly the National Association of Securities Dealers, announced relatively minor changes that will expand the quantity of broker specific information that will available on the online BrokerCheck system.

A Nebraska couple filed suit against LPL Financial last month, claiming one of its brokers misled them about the costs and risks associated with annuities.

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