UK financial regulator the FCA has announced that in a criminal prosecution which it initiated, three defendants have today been found guilty for their roles in a series of boiler rooms which led to the loss of more than £2.7 million of investors’ funds. A further three defendants had pleaded guilty earlier in the proceedings.…
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has continued its crackdown on brokers who defraud customers, charging two New York-based brokers with making unsuitable trades that were costly for customers and lucrative for the brokers. The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in Manhattan, alleges that brokers Zachary S. Berkey of Centerreach, New York, and Daniel T. Fischer of…
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has announced charges against a Seattle-area outdoor digital signage advertising company and two of its senior executives, over the theft of more than $2 million from retail investors. According to the SEC’s complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, Digi Outdoor Media Inc.’s former chief executive officer Donald…
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two individuals with defrauding elderly investors in a penny stock scheme involving Florida entertainment companies and their “Spongebuddy” product. The charges are part of the Miami Regional Office’s Recidivist Initiative which has thus far resulted in enforcement actions against 23 individuals, nine of whom also have been…
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a statement of objections to four asset management firms: Artemis Investment Management LLP, Hargreave Hale Ltd, Newton Investment Management Limited, and River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP. The FCA believes the four firms may have broken competition law. The FCA alleges that the four firms shared information by…
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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained a Consent Order against Defendants Joseph Dufresne (a/k/a/ Joseph James) and Megan Renkow (a/k/a Megan James), both of Palos Verdes Estates, California, and their companies, United Business Servicing, LLC and United Business Servicing, Inc., doing business as SchoolofTrade.com (SoT), who were charged with fraud and other violations in connection with the offer and sale…
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The Financial Times is reporting that several of the world's leading banks are heading towards final negotiations on a financial settlement (read:fines) with the European Commission, following a more than four year long probe into allegations they formed a cartel to rig the $5 trillion global FX market. The FT named UBS, RBS, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Barclays,…
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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) obtained $1,127,855 in restitution for defrauded pool participants and $3,383,565 in civil monetary penalties in a federal court Default Judgment Order against Defendants Gerard Suite (who is known by numerous aliases, including Rawle Gerard Suite, Jerry Suite, and Jerry Snead) and his company, STA Opus NR LLC (STA Opus), as well as…
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Australia's financial regulator ASIC stated that it has sought final orders in ongoing Federal Court proceedings against a number of international and Australian companies and associated individuals that it alleges are involved in operating binary trading websites (titantrade.com and tradettn.com) and offering of binary trading services to Australian customers. In July 2016, ASIC previously successfully…
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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that Judge David G. Campbell of U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona entered a Consent Order against Defendants Derek Springfield and his company, Draven, LLC (Draven), both of Mesa, Arizona finding that they fraudulently solicited and received at least $1.8 million from approximately 112 commodity pool participants in…
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