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Downey man who ran a Ponzi scheme for 15 years faces sentencing

Prosecutors are expected to ask a judge today to send a man to prison for 15 years for running a Ponzi scheme that took in about $30 million as well as a scam that preyed on homeowners facing foreclosure. Juan Rangel of Downey, who is already behind bars awaiting sentencing for a 2009 conviction for […]

Enough Transparency in the Municipal Bond Market?

The municipal bond market, already under a dark cloud due to rising risk levels, apparently has a pattern of lax financial reporting practices that could further elevate concerns about the market. A new study from DPC Data Inc. found that bond-issuing municipalities in general are delaying or ignoring their annual financial disclosure reporting requirements. In […]

SEC Approves FINRA Proposal to Give Investors Permanent Option of All Public Arbitration Panels

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved its proposed rule change to provide customers in all FINRA arbitrations the option of having an all public panel. Historically, in cases with three arbitrators, the panels have been comprised of two public arbitrators and one arbitrator with […]

SEC Urges Uniform Fiduciary Duty For Brokers and Advisers

U.S. securities regulators on Friday called for a new uniform fiduciary standard for broker-dealers and investment advisers that would require them to put retail customers ahead of their own financial interests. The recommendations, laid out by the Securities and Exchange Commission in a study reviewed by Reuters late on Friday, would drastically alter the landscape […]

Securities America Loses $1.2 million FINRA Arbitration

A FINRA arbitration panel ordered Securities America to pay an investor more than $1.2 million in damages related to losses in promissory notes issued by Medical Capital Holdings Inc., which entered receivership in 2009. The sum included $250,000 in punitive damages. The case, decided on Dec. 31, was the first among dozens of arbitration cases […]