Stockbrokers and financial advisors occupy a place of trust. And, in most cases, a client’s trust in their financial advisor is well-placed. However, perhaps more often than most people realize, stockbrokers and financial advisors engage in illegal conduct specifically intended to enrich themselves at their clients’ expense. This is exactly what is alleged to have occurred at UBS Wealth Management USA. According to a recent report, one of the firm’s former brokers in Waco, Texas, stole more than $17 million from customers over a period of more than 25 years. Evidently, the broker was able to ..read more

Over the past decade, cryptocurrency has been all the rage. It all started with Bitcoin, which was created back in 2008. However, since then, the number of cryptocurrencies has grown significantly, as have the ways that investors can purchase these assets. Cryptocurrency was initially met with skeptical eyes across the finance community; however, in more recent years, many notable investors have gotten onboard with the crypto craze. Investors considering adding cryptocurrency to their portfolios should familiarize themselves with cryptocurrency, its risks, and what can be done in the event of ..read more

From Bryan Forman, Forman Law Firm, P. C.–In an effort to provide our readers with unique perspective of other professionals in the world of investments and securities regulation, arbitration, and litigation, I will occasionally invite friends, colleagues, and other experts to publish a blog piece from their unique perspective.  If you like what they have to say, please say so and forward!  Thanks for reading. In this Guest Blog Piece, we hear from Edmond (Ed) Martin of Sage Investigations, LLC in Austin, Texas.  Ed brings some unique experience and perspective to “Ponzi Schemes ..read more

How Margin Risk Can Devastate a Brokerage Account. WAAAAY BACK in January of 2018, I blogged about how trading on margin, even in a prolonged bull market, can have devastating results if (when) the markets dramatically decline.  See, “Investing On Margin—Will Your Chickens Come Home to Roost?”   I was concerned for those investors for which margin investing might be unsuitable, as the outcome can be devastating.  Certainly, there are generations of new investors with a great deal of investment dollars that only began investing real money during this bull market; meaning the ..read more

Austin, Texas Investor Wins $ 2.8 Million in Arbitration on Claims Under The Texas Securities Act Investors in Private Offerings in Texas Have Substantial Tools At Their Disposal Through the Texas Securities Act (TSA). In February of 2018, we posted a piece about how the Texas Securities Act was a “Powerful Tool For Victims of Oil and Gas Fraud” and we discussed how the TSA might apply to oil and gas investments, as we were seeing a significant number of investors’ inquiries about their investments in private oil and gas deals.  As we noted, the TSA considers “any interest in or under an ..read more

Financial Exploitation of Elders – What You Need to Know Due to age and the impairments that accompany it, our elderly population is, unfortunately, at a high risk of being taken advantage of financially.  Elderly investors are vulnerable to financial exploitation and investment fraud due to a general desire to trust their financial professional, and the difficulty of keeping abreast of the ever-changing financial, retirement, annuity and insurance products marketed by Wall Street. By the year 2030, all baby boomers will be over the age of 65.  By 2035, the amount of people over 65 w ..read more