On May 12, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced an award of approximately $3.6 million to a whistleblower who brought valuable information to the SEC’s attention, which lead to an investigation that ended in a successful SEC enforcement action. According to Emily Pasquinelli, Acting Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower, the…
Continue reading ›You worked hard, opened a brokerage or retirement account, and invested your savings with a financial advisor or stockbroker, only to suffer financial losses due to bad investment advice, misleading sales pitches, or brokers that were driven by commissions. Now what? Can I Sue My Financial Advisor Over Losses? Yes, you can sue your financial…
Continue reading ›On May 10, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced an award of approximately $22 million to two whistleblowers whose information and assistance aided the SEC that resulted in successful SEC enforcement actions brought against a financial services firm. The first whistleblower, who was the initial source of the investigation, received an award of…
Continue reading ›On Thursday, January 28, 2021, Robinhood designated specific stocks “position closing only,” meaning that customers could not purchase additional shares in those stocks. The targeted stocks included GameStop (NYSE: GME), AMC (NYSE: AMC), Blackberry (NYSE: BB), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Koss Corporation (NYSE: KOSS), and Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR). Robinhood was joined by other online brokers,…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has suspended financial advisor Constantinos Maniatis from the securities industry for 30 days. Mr. Maniatis consented to the suspension after FINRA alleged that he engaged in discretionary trading without written authorization in seven customer accounts between May 4, 2018, and February 27, 2019. FINRA also fined Mr. Maniatis $5,000.…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has barred stockbroker David Martirosian from the securities industry. Mr. Martirosian was expelled from the brokerage industry for refusing to cooperate with a FINRA investigation into potentially unsuitable and excessive trading and his potential participation in private securities transactions while associated with Joseph Stone Capital L.L.C. (“Joseph Stone Capital”).…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has suspended stockbroker Frederick Rock from the securities industry for five months and ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine. FINRA sanctioned Mr. Rock because he solicited clients to purchase $409,200 worth of securities that were not approved by his firm, Pruco Securities LLC. Mr. Rock was a financial…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has suspended financial advisor Elias Hakimian from the securities industry for three months. Mr. Hakimian consented to the suspension after FINRA alleged that he borrowed $120,000 from a customer without notice to or obtaining written pre-approval from his employing brokerage firm, LPL Financial LLC, in violation of FINRA Rules…
Continue reading ›**Update: November 8, 2021** On April 15, 2021, FINRA’s Department of Enforcement filed disciplinary proceeding No. 2019063626703 against former Joseph Stone Capital broker Abdul Rahmani. On October 28, 2021, Mr. Rahmani submitted an Offer of Settlement to FINRA’s Department of Enforcement. On November 2, 2021, FINRA’s Department of Enforcement and the National Adjudicatory Council (NAC),…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has barred stockbroker Michael Dellaporta, Jr. from the securities industry. Mr. Dellaporta was expelled from the brokerage industry for refusing to cooperate with a FINRA investigation into an outside business activity. Mr. Dellaporta, who was a broker for over forty years, most recently worked at B.B. Graham & Company,…
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