FINRA Award - Iorio Law PLLC

Arete Wealth Management Ordered to Pay $280,000 to GWG L Bond Investor in Latest FINRA Arbitration Award

Iorio Law PLLC — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 18:53:28 GMT

In another significant win for GWG L Bond investors, a FINRA arbitration panel has ordered Arete Wealth Management, LLC to pay $280,000 in compensatory damages to a harmed investor. The award, issued on August 11, 2025 (FINRA Arbitration Award No. 22-01257), marks the second time in as many years that the Chicago-based broker-dealer has been found liable for its role in the sale of GWG L Bonds.

This latest award adds to a growing trend: investors have now prevailed in 18 out of 20 GWG L Bond cases that have proceeded to a final FINRA hearing—an 90% success rate, far exceeding the historical average for investor claims.

If you purchased GWG L Bonds through Arete Wealth Management—or any other broker-dealer—visit our GWG L Bond Investor Recovery Center for more information.

Repeat Offender: Arete Wealth Management’s GWG L Bond Liability

In February 2024, another FINRA arbitration panel in St. Louis ordered Arete Wealth Management to pay $75,000 plus interest to a GWG L Bond investor (FINRA Arbitration Award No. 22-01337). Both cases underscore the firm’s failure to meet its regulatory obligations when recommending these speculative, illiquid, and high-commission bonds.

Arete Wealth Management’s compliance issues are not new. In 2012, the firm was fined and censured by FINRA for approving a private securities offering to customers without conducting adequate due diligence (2012 FINRA Enforcement Action). The same type of due diligence failure is at the heart of many GWG L Bond claims.

January 2025 Lawsuit: SEC Alleges Fraudulent Practices, Cover-up, and Inadequate Compliance Practices

In January 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a federal lawsuit against Arete Wealth Management, Arete Wealth Advisors, LLC, Joey Miller, Jeff and Randy Larson, and General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer UnBo (Bob) Chung. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Miller and brothers Jeff and Randy Larson defrauded dozens of investors by soliciting them to purchase unapproved stock in a sham company. This company was run by an individual who had served several years in prison for conspiracy to commit securities fraud and other crimes.

According to the SEC’s complaint, CCO Chung knowingly approved the sale of these shares even after being informed that the individual controlling the stock was a convicted felon. The complaint further alleges that, at the direction of Arete’s CEO, the brokers and CCO later obtained liability waivers from their advisory clients. These waivers, given to clients to whom they owed a fiduciary duty, were known to contain material misrepresentations and omissions.

The SEC’s complaint also claims that while this misconduct was occurring, Arete Wealth Management, through Mr. Chung, failed to comply with key recordkeeping requirements and maintain adequate compliance policies and procedures. The firm also allegedly failed to conduct required annual reviews of its policies for nearly four years after the SEC had already warned Mr. Chung about these deficiencies in the firm’s compliance program.

The shocking allegations, which include alleged fraudulent practices, a cover-up by firm executives, and inadequate compliance practices, reveal that Arete Wealth Management—including its CEO, General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer, and Mr. Miller—had a practice of placing its own best interests ahead of its customers’.

A Nationwide Pattern of Broker-Dealer Failures

Iorio Law PLLC’s ongoing investigation into the sale of GWG L Bonds has uncovered a troubling pattern among many brokerage firms—not just Arete Wealth Management.

Broker-dealers were required to:

Conduct reasonable due diligence into GWG Holdings’ financial condition and business model.
Recommend the bonds only to suitable investors whose financial profile matched the product’s high risk and illiquidity.
Fully and fairly disclose all material risks, including GWG’s ongoing financial instability and shift into alternative assets via The Beneficient Company Group.

For many investors, these duties were ignored. Instead, the lure of commissions—up to 8%—too often took precedence over investor protection.

Why FINRA Arbitration is the Best Path for Recovery

With GWG’s bankruptcy recovery projected at just 2.7%–3.45% of principal invested, FINRA arbitration claims against selling broker-dealers remain the most viable way for investors to recoup meaningful losses.

These claims can allege:

Unsuitable recommendations / Reg BI violations
Misrepresentations and omissions of material risks
Breach of fiduciary duty
Failure to supervise advisors who sold the bonds

Iorio Law PLLC, led by GWG recovery attorney August M. Iorio, has already recovered over $3.5 million for GWG L Bond investors nationwide. GWG L Bonds. We represent clients on a contingency-fee basis—no recovery, no fee.

GWG L Bond Investor Recovery Center

Iorio Law PLLC has been investigating the sale of GWG L Bonds for several years and has prepared a comprehensive guide for GWG L Bond investors to learn about what happened and their options going forward: GWG L Bond Investor Recovery Center.

Contact Us

If you purchased GWG L Bonds through Arete Wealth Management—or any other broker-dealer—contact us for a free, confidential case evaluation.

📞 Call: (646) 330-4624
📧 Email: info@iorio.law
📍 Location: One World Trade Center, 85th Floor, New York, NY 10007
🖊️ Free Case Review: Contact Form

We are committed to holding brokerage firms accountable and helping investors recover what they have lost.

Another Win for Ubs Yield Enhancement Strategy (yes) Customers, Third Award in 2021

Iorio Law PLLC — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 18:13:00 GMT

On August 23, 2021, a FINRA Dispute Resolution Services arbitration panel in Baltimore, Maryland, ordered UBS Financial Services, Inc. (“UBS”) to pay $405,000 to customers who invested in UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy (“YES”). The award included $300,000 in compensatory damages, $30,000 in costs, and $75,000 in attorneys’ fees. The customers alleged that UBS and broker Adam Rogers misrepresented UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy, a complex and highly risky options strategy, as a way to obtain marginally higher yield on a portfolio while taking limited risks. In actuality, the complexity and nature of YES exposed the Claimants to a significant risk of loss. The Claimants also alleged that UBS and its team of options traders conducted the YES program with virtually no supervision or compliance oversight and with inadequate risk controls.

This order is the third arbitration award against UBS in 2021 concerning YES and the fourth since December 2020. On March 31, 2021, a FINRA arbitration panel in Columbus, Ohio, ordered UBS to pay customers over $372,000 in compensatory damages and fees. Earlier in the month, on March 5, 2021, another FINRA arbitration panel in Denver, Colorado, ordered UBS to pay customers over $1 million in compensatory damages. In December 2020, a FINRA arbitration panel in Boca Raton, Florida, awarded a customer nearly $90,000.

UBS has faced numerous lawsuits from customers in the form of FINRA securities arbitrations related to YES, a complex managed options strategy that UBS marketed as safe and market-neutral. The customers have claimed that the strategy was not suitable for them and that UBS materially misrepresented and omitted the risks of the strategy.

Investors who have suffered investment losses due to UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy should contact experienced securities arbitration attorneys at Iorio Altamirano LLP for a free and confidential case evaluation. Partner August Iorio, who has been investigating YES for over two years, can be reached at august@ia-law.com or toll-free at (646) 330-4624.

UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy

UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy is a complex managed options strategy that UBS marketed as a safe, market-neutral overlay that would provide incremental returns to an investor’s portfolio.

UBS’s brokers sold this product to customers across the country. It is believed that nearly 1,500 customers chose to follow their financial advisors’ recommendations and implement this strategy. The strategy reportedly had approximately $6 billion assets under management.

Unfortunately, many UBS financial advisors did not adequately understand the product and failed to disclose the risk associated with YES. Investors have complained that they were misled and that their financial advisors never discussed the downside risk associated with implementing the strategy.

The strategy, which involved several options trades and borrowing, has sustained significant losses when the stock and bond markets saw an increase in volatility beginning in early 2018. It is believed that investors have suffered at least $75 million in losses, likely significantly more.

UBS Yield Enhancement Strategy: How to Recover Losses

When an investor suffers investment losses due to misconduct by a financial advisor or broker-dealer, the investor can file a securities arbitration claim against their financial advisor and/or broker-dealer in an effort to be compensated. The case will be presented and defended in a FINRA arbitration proceeding to a panel of arbitrators.

Securities arbitration is a unique and complex practice area. Investors should seek out experienced counsel who can navigate the arbitration process and effectively advocate on their behalf.

Iorio Altamirano LLP is a securities arbitration law firm located in the heart of New York City. Iorio Altamirano LLP represents investors nationwide who have suffered investment losses due to securities fraud.

We have nearly 20 years of combined experience as securities arbitration lawyers and have helped investors recover investment losses in over 1000 cases.

If you suffered losses from investing in UBS’s Yield Enhancement Strategy, contact New York securities arbitration lawyer August Iorio of Iorio Altamirano LLP. August Iorio can be reached at august@ia-law.com or toll-free at (646) 330-4624 for a free and confidential review of your account.

Gpb Capital Investor Recovers Full Investment Through Finra Arbitration Award

Iorio Law PLLC — Mon, 16 Aug 2021 17:55:24 GMT

On August 13, 2021, a FINRA arbitration panel in New York, New York, ruled in favor of a brokerage customer that invested in GPB Automotive Portfolio LP and GPB Waste Management LP at the recommendation of his financial advisor at Hightower Securities, LLC.

The arbitration panel ordered Hightower Securities, LLC to refund $163,201 to the customer in exchange for a return of the limited partnership interests, essentially making the customer whole. The customer had purchased the limited partnership interests for $170,000 and had previously received $6,799 from the investments as a return of capital.

Iorio Altamirano LLP is investigating claims on behalf of defrauded investors who were victims in the GPB funds scheme. The GPB funds were marketed to independent broker-dealers and investment advisers who would, in turn, sell the GPB funds to their retail investors.

Investors that have purchased any of the following private placement investments issued by GPB Capital, should contact securities arbitration law firm Iorio Altamirano LLP for a free and confidential consultation and review of their legal rights:

GPB Holdings, LP / GPB Holdings Qualified, LP.
GPB Automotive Portfolio, LP.
GPB Holdings II, LP.
GPB Waste Management, LP.

If you lost money in the GPB funds, you might have a claim.

Earlier this year, the SEC has charged GPB Capital, Ascendant Capital, and Ascendant Alternative Strategies with running a Ponzi-like scheme that raised roughly $1.8 billion from securities issued by GPB Capital. The SEC believes that as many as 17,000 retail investors nationwide have been defrauded.

Brokers and brokerage firms are obligated to make suitable recommendations in their customers’ best interest. Among other things, the broker must have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommendation is suitable for a customer based on the particular customer’s investment profile. In addition, the broker and firm must have a reasonable basis to believe, based on reasonable diligence, that the recommendation is suitable for at least some investors. FINRA has stated that “reasonable diligence” means that the firm’s and/or broker’s due diligence “must provide the firm or associated person with an understanding of the potential risks and rewards of the recommended security or strategy.”

Brokerage firms like Hightower Securities, LLC may have failed to conduct reasonable diligence into the GPB funds before selling the private placement offerings to their customers. The firms’ compliance departments likely ignored or missed many red flags such as inflated revenue reports, fabricated profits, kickbacks, and investor funds being funneled into the pockets of GPB’s principals.

How to Recover GBP Investment Losses

Iorio Altamirano LLP is a securities arbitration law firm located in New York, NY. We represent investors nationwide and vigorously pursue FINRA arbitration claims on behalf of investors to recover investment losses.

We have nearly 20 years of combined experience as securities arbitration lawyers and have helped investors recover investment losses in over 1,000 cases. Our firm will file a FINRA securities arbitration claim on your behalf on a contingency fee basis to try to recover your losses. If we do not obtain a recovery, you do not owe us a legal fee.

If you have lost money on the GPB funds, contact securities arbitration lawyers August Iorio and Jorge Altamirano of Iorio Altamirano LLP at august@ia-law.com, jorge@ia-law.com, or toll-free at (646) 330-4624 for a free and confidential consultation and review of your legal rights.

Jackson, Mississippi Investor Wins Arbitration Claim Against E*trade Securities Llc

Iorio Law PLLC — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 22:14:41 GMT

A FINRA arbitrator in Jackson, Mississippi, has found E*Trade Securities LLC liable for failing to execute a trade properly and ordered the online brokerage firm to pay its customer over $31,000 (the “Award”).

According to the Award, the customer, Mr. David White, filed a claim against E*Trade in early February 2021, alleging that the firm failed to execute his order at the original limit price, not the higher trading price that the option was priced at the time.

E*Trade was also ordered to pay interest on the $31,150 in compensatory damages at a rate of 8% per annum from January 27, 2021, until the date of payment of the Award.

The start date of the interest award is interesting as it coincides with the week that brokerage firms like E*Trade, Robinhood, and Webull began to restrict trading in “meme stocks” such as GameStop (NYSE: GME), AMC (NYSE: AMC), Blackberry (NYSE: BB), Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Koss Corporation (NYSE: KOSS), and Express, Inc. (NYSE: EXPR). Generally, in a FINRA arbitration proceeding, an award for interest corresponds with the date that the investor was harmed.

Although the Award does not specify what security gave rise to the dispute, Mr. White’s arbitration award may be the first arbitration award related to “meme stocks.”

This blog has previously written about the conduct of brokerage firms during the week of January 25, 2021, concerning “meme stocks”: Retail Investors Fight Back Against Robinhood for Its January 28, 2021, Trading Restrictions on “Meme Stocks,” Such as GameStop, AMC, Koss Corporation, and Express, Inc.

Iorio Altamirano LLP is a securities arbitration law firm based in New York, NY. We pursue individual FINRA arbitration claims nationwide on behalf of investors to recover financial losses from brokerage firms’ wrongful conduct.