Enforcement actions

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.

The Financial Industry Regulatory announced the action Wednesday, saying it stemmed from the firms' supervisory failures.

After getting national attention for allegedly swindling millions from a disabled billionaire client, brokers Ami Forte and Charles Lawrence have been barred from the industry.

The firm attached a corrective action statement detailing changes to its personnel, compliance department and municipal trading desk.

Some say a case announced yesterday echoed one last year where traders allegedly lied to get priority in their orders for newly-issued bonds.

Thomas Muldoon should properly have placed his orders as dealer stock orders, the SEC found, but instead asked representatives to submit them as retail orders.

“Reporting unauthorized transactions is certainly a good first step in building cooperation,” said one lawyer. “But there could be a lot more to it.”

Market participants are questioning IFS' future and how a rogue trader engaged in unsupervised trades.

FINRA settled with two parties after they violated MSRB Rule G-17 by whiting out dates and failing to disclose a $2 million fee up until an issuance.

The monitorship plan will extend until Sept. 13 for seven assisted living facilities he is trying to liquidate.

Brogdon's high personal spending and failure to sell his assets spell an end to the usefulness of his repayment plan, the SEC told a federal judge.