Securities Arbitration & Whistleblower Lawyers Blog

FINRA has sanctioned National Securities Corporation for numerous violations, including failing to comply with reporting obligations and failing to enforce written supervisory procedures related to its reporting obligations between May 2015 and November 2018. National Securities Corporation was also sanctioned for failing to establish, maintain, and enforce written supervisory procedures relating to contingency offers from…

**Update: 3/22/2021** Ms. Cowden has been the subject of two additional customer disputes since November 2020. First, in November 2020, a customer filed a securities arbitration complaint alleging $400,000 in damages concerning a real estate security recommendation. The causes of action included breach of fiduciary duty, unauthorized trading, and elder abuse. Second, in January 2021,…

On October 9, 2020, FINRA suspended Donatas B. Vildzius from the securities industry for six months and fined him $5,000. This sanction is the third time Mr. Vildzius has been suspended by FINRA, with previous suspensions in 2006 and 2014. Donatas Vildzius is a stockbroker and registered representative at Network 1 Financial Securities Inc. in…

FINRA has filed an enforcement complaint against Stephen Sloane, alleging that from January 2014 to January 2018, he recommended an unsuitable investment strategy to at least 14 customers. The complaint alleges that Sloane did not have a reasonable basis for recommending that his customers engage in active, short-term trading of U.S. Treasuries with 10- and…

Today, UBS Group AG announced that its net profit almost doubled in the third quarter to nearly $2.1 billion from $1.05 billion from a year earlier. Meanwhile, as UBS and other large investment banking firms continue to rake in huge profits, UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy investors continue to suffer avoidable losses. UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy,…

FINRA has suspended Frank Venturelli from the securities industry for 11 months. Frank Venturelli was a financial advisor and registered representative at the following firms: FINRA alleged that Frank Venturelli excessively traded three accounts between July 2016 and November 2018. Mr. Ventuerrli has also received at least one customer complaint alleging excessive trading and unsuitable…

FINRA has permanently barred Jeffrey A. Broten from the securities industry. Jeffrey Broten was a financial advisor and registered representative at the following firms: FINRA alleged that Jeffrey Broten failed to cooperate with its investigation regarding allegations of unsuitable and unauthorized trading while employed at First Standard Financial Company LLC in Red Bank, New Jersey.…