According to the Investment News, yet another small brokerage, MCL Financial Group, that focused on selling illiquid alternative investments has been shuttered.

MCL Financial Group Inc. of Santa Ana, Calif, which had 44 registered reps, filed its broker-dealer withdrawal form Tuesday with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., making it at least the sixth such firm to close this year.

The B-D, which cleared through Legent Clearing LLC, had $2.9 million in revenue in 2010, down form $3.2 million a year earlier, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Meanwhile, the firm posted losses of $10,330 last year and $447,250 in 2009.

Small and midsize broker-dealers have been struggling for a variety of reasons of late. Many that sold illiquid private placements and real estate deals have seen a huge rise in legal costs due to litigation filed by investors.

According to its annual Focus report filed this year with the SEC, MCL generated 26% of its revenue in 2010 from the sale of REITs and 15% from the sale of limited-liability companies, which often take the form of private placements.

According to its profile on Finra’s BrokerCheck system, MCL had no recent actions against it from regulators or substantial losses from Finra arbitrations.

Last year, however, the receiver for bankrupt real estate syndicator DBSI Inc. sued MCL(and more than 90 other broker-dealers) seeking to claw back commissions generated from the sale of wildly popular tenant-in-common exchanges. According to court papers, MCL generated $210,000 in commissions from selling TICs issued by DBSI.

In the Focus report from March, the B-D said it did not expect the resolution of claims against the company to have an adverse affect on the financial position or results of the firm.

At the end of last year, MCL had $90,671 in net capital.

If you have questions about your investments with MCL Financial Group, 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 the firm’s website at https://whitesecuritieslaw.com.