Stockbroker fraud is a major issue. Each year, investors lose tens of billions of dollars to fraudulent brokerage practices—from promoting high-risk unregistered offerings to churning investors’ accounts and making unsuitable investment recommendations in order to generate fees and commissions. If you have information (or concerns) about stockbroker fraud, coming forward is the right thing to do. This is true whether you work for a brokerage firm, work with a brokerage firm or have concerns as an investor. Here’s how you can take action: Taking Action as an Employee or Other Insider If you wor ..read more

For victims of investment fraud, hiring an experienced lawyer is essential. Whether defrauded investors need to file claims against their brokerage firms or track down scam artists, they need experienced legal representation in order to effectively assert their legal rights and maximize their chances of a financial recovery. So, how much does it cost to hire an investment fraud lawyer? Contingency-Fee Representation for Defrauded Investors in the U.S. Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it plans to host a summit highlighting the need for investor access t ..read more

If you have suffered investment losses due to broker fraud or misconduct, recovering your losses will most likely involve filing for FINRA arbitration. Brokers and brokerage firms consent to arbitration as a condition of registration, and FINRA arbitration is intended to provide defrauded investors with streamlined access to justice. So, how do you get started? Regardless of your level of sophistication as an investor, it is important to work with a lawyer who can represent you effectively. Obtaining compensation for investment fraud in FINRA arbitration is not easy, and your brokerage firm wi ..read more

Investors in the United States have clear legal rights. State and federal securities laws heavily regulate companies’ and brokerage firms’ conduct, and these laws give investors the right to take legal action when they fall victim to fraud. As an investor, it is important to know your legal rights—and when to take legal action—so that you can maximize your chances of recovering your fraudulent investment losses when necessary. What You Need to Know About Your Legal Rights as a U.S. Investor So, as an investor, what specifically do you need to know? Here are five key facts about your legal righ ..read more

Learn About Your Rights from an Experienced Securities Lawyer As an investor, there are several laws that protect you. These securities laws require companies to disclose the information you need to make informed investment decisions, require brokers and advisors to put your interests first, and impose both civil and criminal penalties for investment fraud. They also allow you to take legal action when you fall victim to fraud. Even if a company, broker or advisor faces civil or criminal penalties, this doesn’t mean that you will recover your fraudulent investment losses. To recover your losse ..read more

It is telling that a recent article about exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) website is accompanied by a picture of a rollercoaster. As FINRA notes, while ETFs and other ETPs have surged in popularity in recent years, “[e]asy as it is to trade ETPs, risks vary for each product, with some types of ETPs exposing investors to both complexity and significant danger of losses.” Indeed, ETFs and other ETPs can be very risky for retail investors. These investments can present a variety of different risks, and ..read more

One of the most common mistakes investors make is putting their money in without taking the time to fully research the securities or other assets in which they are investing. State and federal securities laws require publicly-traded companies, brokerage firms and other entities to make multiple types of disclosures—and these requirements are intended specifically to ensure that investors are able to make informed investment decisions. But what if you do your research and you still end up making an investment decision based on less-than-complete (or misleading) information? Unfortunately, this ..read more

Penny stocks are high-risk investments that can leave retail investors facing significant losses. So, why do so many people invest in them? This is a question I was recently asked to answer for a documentary on CNBC. The documentary discusses the risks associated with penny stocks (including “meme stocks” like GameStop); and, in the documentary, I explain both why penny stocks are so popular and why many investors end up falling victim to scams. The documentary features insights from the Executive Vice President of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and other experts as well a ..read more

It has been more than a century since Charles Ponzi was arrested for conducting the scheme that now bears his name. Yet, Ponzi schemes remain a very real concern for investors, and each year investors lose untold millions in schemes perpetrated by scam artists and unwittingly recommended by their brokers and advisors. Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued several press releases warning of investment Ponzi schemes. This includes four press releases issued in June and July alone. For investors, it is important to be wary of the risks of these schemes and to know ..read more

When you invest with a brokerage firm, you expect the firm to last. You expect it to help you grow an investment portfolio that will allow you to live comfortably in retirement, and you expect it to be there to help you manage your funds in retirement when the time comes. So, what happens if your brokerage firm fails? While this is a question that most investors never consider, it is a very real concern. Brokerage firms can—and do—fail, and when they fail, they don’t always put investors’ interests first. While there are safeguards that are designed to protect investors in this scenario, inves ..read more