In October 2010, Nicholas J. Guiliano, Esquire of the Guiliano Law Firm, P.C. in Philadelphia and Jeffrey Sonn of Sonn & Erez in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida filed nine actions in arbitration before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against Royal Alliance, Inc. and several of its former agents, in connection with the sale of the unregistered securities of the Draseena Funds Group, in what was later determined to be a Ponzi scheme.

Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. is a registered securities broker-dealer which, among other things, conducts its securities business throug...

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The Department of Enforcement of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed a disciplinary proceeding on March 28 alleging that former broker William Bruce Smith misappropriated $100,000 from a customer.

Smith, who worked for FINRA-member Triad Advisors in Shrewsbury, Ma., at the time of the misappropriation, was registered as a general securities representative and principal as well as a direct participation programs limited representative. S...

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An arbitration claim by Lucy and John Mattinen against White Pacific Securites Inc. (WPS), the firm that employed a broker who misappropriated their money, has gone to arbitration after a federal court in San Francisco declined to enjoin the claim in an order issued March 19.

The claim includes counts for breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation and conversion against Krittibas Ray, the broker,...

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Two former stockbrokers for UBS Financial Services Inc. have been charged with making unsuitable recommendations and negligent misrepresentation regarding options investments per a complaint filed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on Feb. 27.

The complaint says that Charles W. Kern III and Thomas K. Haskins used misinformation to induce seven customers to invest using the S&P Combo Strategy, which was designed to produce monthly income using uncovered calls an...

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Sometimes the moral decay that leads financial professionals to steal from their clients runs deeper than anyone could expect.

For instance, the news is out that Robert Bales, the U.S. Army staff sergeant accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians, was a former stockbroker on the losing end of a 2003 arbitration before the Financial Industry Regulatory...

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