Enforcement actions

A federal judge signed off on sanctions against IFS Securities Inc.'s former head trader for allegedly pocketing phony commissions and unauthorized trades that bankrupted the firm.

FINRA said the firm failed to detect and resolve short positions in municipal securities

Keith A. Wakefield's alleged unauthorized and speculative trading at the former IFS Securities Inc. and his attempts to cover it up drew charges Thursday from the SEC and U.S. Attorney's office.

A firm and its two principals have been charged for an improper fee-splitting arrangement under the relatively new regulatory regime for municipal advisors.

The settled proceeding against Anthony Falsetta, announced Tuesday, is the latest in a string of SEC cases targeting violations of retail order periods.

Alleged supervisory failures led to unsuitable trading patterns of Puerto Rico and other bonds, FINRA found.

FINRA arbitrators ordered the wealth manager and closed-end funds manager to pay damages as it resolves outstanding claims stemming from the island’s fiscal crisis.

Other detention centers and prisons operating near the U.S.-Mexico border have undergone similar IRS audits the last couple of years in which issuers have agreed to convert their bonds from tax-exempt to taxable.

Jeffrey Fladell, who retired from RBC Capital Markets in 2017, agreed to pay that fine while neither admitting nor denying FINRA's charges.

Robbi Jones, principal at Kipling Jones & Co., received that ruling on appeal from FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council late last month.

Transamerica Financial Advisors has agreed to pay $321,167 in restitution as part of a settlement of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charges that it failed to properly supervise its brokers selling shares of 529 plans.

This is the latest case to involve 'flipping' — improperly allocating bonds meant for retail customers and instead selling them to other market participants — following multiple related actions made by the SEC over the years.

To win a summary judgment, a party to a lawsuit must show that there is no factual dispute at issue and that the facts of the case can only support a finding in that party’s favor.

Charles Doraine settled with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on Monday without admitting or denying FINRA’s findings.

First Manhattan Co. bought municipal securities from an unaffiliated dealer without making a reasonable effort to obtain fair and reasonable prices, FINRA said.

The Lincoln-Way high school district won a Moody's upgrade to Baa2 ahead of a $23 million refinancing deal.

The investigation appears to be linked to the supervision of Deborah Kelley, a broker who was convicted and sanctioned for bribing a state pension fund officer.

The orders issued Dec. 23 bring to a close the Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action against Navnoor Kang, Deborah Kelley and Gregg Schonhorn.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found D.A. Davidson & Co. provided inaccurate pricing in issue price certificates.

The SEC brought four civil lawsuits and 10 stand-alone administrative proceedings, according to its annual report released Wednesday.