It didn’t take long for the SEC to target meme stock traders. The SEC filed charges in New Jersey alleging that the defendant became aware of the increased market volume and volatility driven by so-called “meme stocks” – stocks that were being actively promoted on social media platforms. He allegedly […]
Brokers
Commentary, news and links of interest to financial advisers.
Bloomberg Claims – Is the Stock Market Rigged? Most People Think So – We Don’t.
There was an interesting article at Bloomberg.com, which contends that insider trading is everywhere, and no one seems to care.
Having spent the better part of three decades as a securities attorney, and an investor, it seems to me that all three statements are not true. The stock market is not rigged, insider trading is not everywhere, and lots of people care about insider trading.
Oil and Gas Executives Settle SEC Charges of Misleading Investors in More Than a Dozen Oil and Gas Securities Offerings
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Thomas Powell and Stefan Toth, and their entities, Resolute Capital Partners LTD LLC and Homebound Resources LLC, with making material misrepresentations and omissions in connection with more than a dozen unregistered oil and gas securities offerings. Powell and Toth were also charged with […]
Advisor Charged With Targeting Elderly Clients In $8M Fraud
An investment advisor based in New York and Santa Fe, N.M., has been charged with swindling dozens of clients out of more than $8 million by recommending investments in a fund he controlled and then transferring the assets out to pay for personal expenses. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the […]
Netflix Insider Trading Ring
You cannot trade on material, non-public information, and that includes non-public information concerning the growth in your employer’s subscriber base or information contained in unpublished earnings releases. And if you do, you will undoubtedly be caught, and subjected to some very harsh penalties. Fines, a return of three times the […]
Does Trading on Information Learned About A Competitor Constitute Insider Trading?
The SEC has been known to attempt to regulate by litigation, a tactic that causes significant problems for their targets, and undermines the integrity of the SEC’s mission. Insider Trading of a Competitor’s Stock? Last week the SEC charged a former employee of Medivation Inc. with insider trading in advance […]
Merrill Lynch Penalized $11.6 Million For Improper UIT Rollovers
Merrill Lynch Penalized $11.6 Million For Improper UIT Rollovers: The transactions forced clients to pay millions of dollars in needless fees, according to FINRA. A UIT is an investment company that offers investors shares, or “units,” in a fixed portfolio of securities in a one-time public offering that terminates […]
Robinhood Fined $70 Million
FINRA fines Robinhood and orders it to pay its customers 12.6 million dollars
SEC Chair Gensler Seeks to Amend 10b5-1
The new SEC chair believes that 10b5-1 plans “have led to real cracks in our insider trading regime” and has asked the SEC Staff to make recommendations for the Commission’s consideration on how they might “freshen up” Rule 10b5-1. In his comments to the CFO Network Summit, he made a […]
New York Guidance on State Securities Filing Rules
New York has released additional guidance on recent rule amendments prepared by the Investor Protection Bureau (IPB) and adopted in 2020. Through these new rules, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has increased transparency for the public into the investment adviser representatives and securities issuers operating in New York state. […]









