Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that the firm failed to establish and maintain an adequate supervisory system to ensure that it immediately recorded on the firm’s books and records checks its customers mailed to the firm. The findings stated that supervisory system deficiencies were exploited by a registered representative who embezzled approximately $2.6 million from customers and contributed to the firm’s failure to detect his scheme; the representative exploited the firm’s check handling procedures by taking control of customer checks totaling approximately $850,000 and depositing the customer funds into his own bank accounts, without the checks being logged in the firm’s tracking system.

FINRA registered broker-dealers are responsible for supervising their agents and can be help liable for the actions of these agents if it can be demonstrated that the proper supervision could have discovered the improper actions of the agent.This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with Hantz Financial Services, Inc., the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that the firm approved an offering for sale based exclusively on its review of the issuer’s unverified and uncorroborated statements in the offering document.

The FINRA findings further stated that the firm designated an individual to conduct the marketing review for the offering. The individual created a summary page by cutting and pasting language directly from the private placement memorandum (PPM), including a statement about the unblemished payment history of the offering’s affiliates. The individual then completed, signed and dated the requisite 18-question review checklist.

The FINRA findings also stated that the firm, designated an associated person of the firm to conduct the due-diligence review of the offering. The person had not heard of the issuer prior to receiving the PPM and the other individual’s summary report, so he used the summary report and the PPM to conduct the due diligence review, including his assessment of the risks of the offering, and completed, signed and dated the requisite 14-question due diligence review checklist.

Finally, FINRA found that the firm ignored red flags and failed to adequately supervise the sale of the offering after learning about liquidity issues, and failed to suspend sales based on a PPM containing false statements.

Brokerage firms have a fiduciary duty to their clients to perform adequate due diligence on an investment prior to offering it for sale to its clients.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with Valmark Securities, Inc. the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that the firm failed to take steps necessary to determine whether the shares of an SEC-reporting company could be sold without violating Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act); the firm knew, or should have known, information regarding the issuer and its securities, which required that they conduct further inquiry to determine whether the securities sold were registered or going to be sold in transactions exempt from the registration requirements of Section 5 of the Securities Act.

The findings stated that the firm was in possession of information regarding the activity at the firm from various sources, including stock certificates, account information and documents in its possession, as well as from sell orders and wire and transfer instructions that should have alerted them that the sales of the company shares through the firm may have been part of an illegal unregistered distribution.

Finally, the FINRA findings stated that the firm failed to perform an adequate inquiry into the registration or exemption status of the unregistered shares deposited into and sold from firm accounts.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with Wilson-Davis & Co., Inc., the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to have reasonable grounds to believe that private placements offered by two entities pursuant to Regulation D were suitable for any customer. The findings stated that the firm began selling the offerings for one entity after its representatives visited the issuer’s offices to review records and meet with the issuers’ executives; the firm also received numerous third-party due diligence reports for these offerings but never obtained financial information about the entity and its offerings from independent sources, such as audited financial statements.

The findings also stated that despite the issuer’s assurances, the problems with its Regulation D offerings continued; the issuer repeatedly stated to the firm’s representatives that the interest and principal payments would occur within a few weeks, and the issuer made some interest payments but failed to pay substantial amounts of interest and principal owed to its investors, and these unfulfilled promises continued until the SEC filed its civil action and the issuer’s operations ceased. The findings also included that in addition to ongoing delays in making payments to its investors, the firm received other red flags relating to the entity’s problems but continued to allow its brokers to sell the offering to their customers; in total, the firm’s brokers sold $11,759,798.01 of the offering to customers.

FINRA found that despite the fact that the firm received numerous third-party due diligence reports for the other entities’ offering, it never obtained financial information about the issuer and its offerings from independent sources, such as audited financial statements, and although it received a specific fee related to due diligence purportedly performed in connection with each offering, the firm performed little due diligence beyond reviewing the private placement memoranda (PPM) for the issuer’s offerings. FINRA also found that the firm’s representatives did not travel to the entity’s headquarters to conduct any due diligence for these offerings in person and did not see or request any financial information for the entity other than that contained in the PPM.

The findings also included that the firm did not conduct meaningful due diligence for the offerings prior to approving them for sale to its customers; without adequate due diligence, the firm could not identify and understand the inherent risks of these offerings. FINRA found that the firm failed to enforce reasonable supervisory procedures to detect or address potential red flags and negative information as it related to these private placements; the firm therefore failed to maintain a supervisory system reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable securities laws and regulations.

In addition, FINRA determined that the firm obtained a third-party due diligence report for one of the offerings after having sold these offerings for several months already; this report identified a number of red flags with respect to the offerings. Moreover, FINRA found that the firm should have been particularly careful to scrutinize each of the issuer’s offerings given the purported high rates of return but did not take the necessary steps, through obtaining financial information or otherwise, to ensure that these rates of return were legitimate, and not payable from the proceeds of later offerings, in the manner of a Ponzi scheme. Furthermore, FINRA found the firm also did not follow up on the red flags documented in the third-party due diligence report; even with notice of these red flags, the firm continued to sell the offerings without conducting any meaningful due diligence. The findings also stated that the firm failed to have reasonable grounds for approving the sale and allowing the continued sale of the offerings; even though the firm was aware of numerous red flags and negative information that should have alerted it to potential risks, the firm allowed its brokers to continue selling these private placements.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with Capital Financial Services, the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that a firm registered representative converted approximately $990,000 from the firm’s customers, through separate wire requests; these wire requests directed that funds be withdrawn from the firm’s customer accounts that he serviced, and wired to a bank account that he controlled. The findings stated that the firm’s supervisory control system in this area failed to include a policy or procedure requiring a review to detect or prevent multiple wires, from one or numerous customers, going to the same third-party account.

The findings also stated that the firm’s system failed to include exception reports that would have identified multiple customer wires going to the same third-party account. The findings also included that the firm failed to detect that the registered representative had submitted separate wire requests, from different firm customers, resulting in the transmittal of approximately $990,000 of those customers’ funds to a bank account that he controlled.  FINRA found that the firm failed to establish, maintain and enforce a supervisory system reasonably designed to adequately review and monitor all transmittals of funds from customers’ accounts to third-party accounts and outside entities.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with Woodbury Financial Services, Inc., the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it allowed a statutorily disqualified person to associate with the firm. The findings stated that the individual acted in an associated capacity for the firm, with its knowledge and consent, by keeping regular business hours at the firm, maintaining a desk at the firm’s office, a telephone extension at the firm, and a firm sponsored email account; regularly communicating with customers in an effort to maintain their accounts at the firm and to preserve his relationships with them; and handling administrative matters for the firm.

The FINRA findings also stated that the firm initiated numerous telephone solicitations to persons whose numbers were in the national do-not call registry of the Federal Trade Commission (DNC Registry) at the time of the calls. The findings also included that to achieve compliance with telemarketing rules and regulations, the firm used, and still uses, a system that blocks outbound phone calls to phone numbers in the DNC Registry.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with CBG Financial Group, Inc., the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to provide the required financial statements for oil and gas private placement offerings to non-accredited investors who invested in the offerings, and negligently failed to disclose material information to customers who invested in some of the oil and gas private placement offerings.

The findings further stated that the firm failed to disclose certain state regulatory orders against the sole owner of some of the offerings, a portion of the expenses of one firm were paid by the issuer of an offering, and an arbitration award of $526,186 against the controlling shareholder of the general partner of another offering.

Finally, the findings stated that the firm conducted a securities business while failing to maintain its required minimum net capital, which resulted in inaccurate books and records and a net capital deficiency.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with Lone Star Securities, Inc., the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the allegations, Brookstone consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that registered representatives, while associated with the firm, made misrepresentations or omissions of material fact to purchasers of unsecured bridge notes and warrants to purchase common stock of a successor company.

The findings stated that the registered representatives guaranteed customers that they would receive back their principal investment plus returns, failed to inform investors of any risks associated with the investments and did not discuss the risks outlined in the private placement memorandum (PPM) that could result in them losing their entire investment.

According to the findings, the registered representatives had no reasonable basis for the guarantees given the description of the placement agent’s limited role in the PPM. The findings further stated that the registered representatives provided unwarranted price predictions to customers regarding the future price of common stock for which the warrants would be exchangeable and guaranteed the payment at maturity of promissory notes, which led customers to believe that funds raised by the sale of the anticipated private placement would be held in escrow for redemption of the promissory notes.

Finally, FINRA found that the representatives recommended and effected the sale of these securities without having a reasonable basis to believe that the transactions were suitable given the customers’ financial circumstances and conditions, and their investment objectives.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with Brookstone Securities, Inc, the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to supervise the personal trading of research analysts who maintained discretionary accounts at other firms. The findings stated that the firm’s WSPs mandated compliance department review of personal trading of research analysts but, as a matter of policy, the firm did not require compliance review of analyst accounts over which discretionary trading authority had been granted to a third-party manager or advisor.

As a result of that policy, the firm did not review the personal trading of two research analysts who held discretionary accounts at other firms. The findings also stated that the firm issued equity research reports that failed to comply with NASD Rule 2711(h) disclosure requirements. In some research reports in which it disclosed that it had served as manager or co-manager of a public offering of securities for the subject company in the preceding 12 months, it failed to disclose also that it had received compensation from the company for investment-banking services in connection with the offering. One research report failed to disclose that the firm had served as manager or co-manager of a public offering for the company in the preceding 12 months.

Research reports failed to disclose that the firm was a market maker in the subject company’s securities at the time the report was published. Some research reports were issued with indefinite disclosure regarding financial interests held in the securities of the subject company. Other research reports were issued with disclosures not prominently presented. The findings also included that, in connection with two public appearances by firm research department personnel, the firm failed to disclose its receipt of compensation from the subject company in the preceding 12 months. FINRA found that the firm maintained on its company website a list of all companies its research analysts covered, and for each company listed, the firm provided its current rating and price target for the company’s stock, but failed to include the disclosures mandated by NASD Rule 2210(d) and IM 2210-1(6)(a) with respect to potential conflicts of interest.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.

Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that for three years, it failed to establish, maintain and enforce an adequate system of supervisory control policies and procedures in that it failed to test and verify its supervisory controls and procedures. The findings stated that the firm failed to ensure submission to its senior management no less than annually a report detailing the firm’s system of supervisory controls and procedures. The firm failed for three years to complete an adequate annual certification of compliance and supervisory processes.

The findings also stated that the firm failed to provide for independent testing for AML compliance and failed to provide adequate ongoing AML training for appropriate personnel.

This information which is publicly available on FINRA’s website has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.

If you have questions about investments you made with Sonenshine & Company LLC, the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  To speak with a securities attorney, please call the firm’s Chicago office at 312/238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.com.