In an annual report more than two decades ago, Warren Buffett dispensed some wise words of knowledge: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” Reportedly, Mr. Buffett was referring to knowing what risks a company is taking until it faces adverse conditions. Mr. Buffett used the same phrase again…
Continue reading ›David Gentile, the disgraced founder and former CEO of GPB Capital Holdings LLC, has sued GPB Capital. Mr. Gentile seeks to make GPB Capital, which an independent court-appointed monitor is now overseeing, cover the legal costs for his defense against criminal and civil securities fraud. In February 2021, Mr. Gentile was criminally charged with securities…
Continue reading ›Between July 2013 and June 2018, limited partners invested $675 million into GPB Automotive Portfolio, LP, which was sold as a private placement offering by broker-dealers and registered investment advisory firms across the country. Financial advisors, who received large commissions for selling limited partnership units of GPB Automotive, lured investors into this high-risk and illiquid…
Continue reading ›First, on September 15, 2021, a FINRA Dispute Resolution Services arbitration panel in Houston, Texas, ordered UBS Financial Services, Inc. (“UBS”) to pay customers over $357,000 in compensatory damages. Then, on September 17, 2021, arbitrators in Boca Raton, Florida, awarded customers over $691,000 in compensatory damages, more than $115,000 in prejudgment interest, and nearly $41,000…
Continue reading ›On September 7, 2021, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and Santander Investment Securities Inc. (“Santander”) entered into an agreement whereby Santander consented to a censure and $175,000 fine after FINRA alleged that Santander published and distributed research reports to institutional investors that omitted required disclosures or included inaccurate disclosures. Iorio Altamirano LLP is investigating…
Continue reading ›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…
Continue reading ›On August 6, 2021, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Energy 11 GP, LLC, the general partner of Energy 11, L.P. (“Energy 11”), sent a letter to investors of Energy 11. Despite the upbeat and optimistic tone of the letter, as well as the representations made by David Lerner Associates, Inc.’s financial advisors to…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has suspended financial advisor Kevin McCallum from the securities industry for one year. Mr. McCallum consented to the suspension after FINRA alleged that from May 2017 through June 2019, while associated with LPL Financial LLC in Birmingham, Alabama, he made unsuitable recommendations to 12 customers, resulting in their overconcentration…
Continue reading ›The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s Department of Enforcement has filed a disciplinary proceeding complaint against brokerage firm NYPPEX, LLC (CRD No. 47654), Former Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) Laurence Allen (CRD No. 1063970), and Chief Compliance Officer (“CCO”) Michael Schunk (CRD No. 732595). The complaint alleges: Laurence Allen is the CEO of NYPPEX, LLC and has…
Continue reading ›Ross Barish is a stockbroker with Joseph Stone Capital L.L.C. (“Joseph Stone Capital”) in Mineola, New York. Mr. Barish is currently under investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for defrauding sixteen retail customers by executing a high-cost, in-and-out pattern of trading that lost his customers over $800,000 while generating commissions and…
Continue reading ›
