Charles B. Rowley III, a stockbroker with Boston-based Detwiler Fenton & Co., has been sanctioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, for engaging in churning and unsuitable trading in the accounts of two customers.

Rowley agreed to pay restitution of roughly $24,000 plus interest to one of the customers pursuant to a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, or AWC, that settled the alleged violations without Rowley either admitting or denying the findings.

In addi...

Read Full Article

Ratcheting up the drama surrounding a $9.2 million arbitration award levied against Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. for securities fraud, an expert witness for the plaintiffs has moved to expunge all references to him in an opinion issued by a federal court that vacated the award, and laid waste to the expert’s reputation in the process.

The expert, Dr. Craig McCann, took the unusual step so he could present evidence that countermands assertions in court’s opinion that he knowingly provided false testimony during the arbitration hearing.

Dr. McCann’s ...

Read Full Article

On Nov. 3, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals partially vacated a judgment of the court below with the result that a married couple from Illinois can pursue suitability and other claims against Ameriprise Financial Services Inc., the defendant below.

The married couple, John and Elaine Beland, appealed after the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of Ameriprise and enjoined an arbitration the Belands had instigated before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, the 2nd Circuit Read Full Article

A federal circuit court has ruled that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., or FINRA, cannot collect fines through court judgments, leaving investors to wonder how effective the self-regulatory organization can be as a disciplinary body.

The decision from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of appeals, entered Oct. 5, stated that FINRA does not have the authority to bring court actions to collect disciplinary fines. The appeals court reversed the U.S. District...

Read Full Article

A recent study from the University of St. Gallen, in Switzerland, led by forensics expert Pascal Scherrer and Thomas Noll, finds that professional stock traders actually outperform diagnosed psychopaths when it comes to competitive and risk-taking behavior.

According to the study’s authors, one contributing factor may be that stockbroker behavior is more reckless and manipulative than that of psychopaths. Researchers at the Swiss research university measured the readiness to cooperate and the egotism of 28 professional traders who took part in computer simulations and in...

Read Full Article