The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has charged two lawyers it alleges helped facilitate a microcap fraud scheme involving undisclosed “blank check” companies secretly bound for reverse mergers. In complaints filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the SEC alleges that James M. Schneider of Hillsboro Beach,…
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Cyprus financial regulator CySEC has announced that it has withdrawn the suspension of the CIF license granted to Binary Options broker Optionrally Financial Services Ltd. The reasons given by CySEC for suspending the company's license in the first place involved issues involving protection of clients’ funds, the company’s own funds, and the company’s capital adequacy…
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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that it has banned Mrs Colette Chiesa and Mr John Chiesa from working in financial services for integrity failings. Additionally, Mrs Chiesa has been fined £50,000 for attempting to mislead the FCA during an FCA interview. Mr and Mrs Chiesa were founding partners of Westwood Independent Financial Planners…
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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced the filing of a Complaint on October 2, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The CFTC Complaint, filed under seal, charges Defendants Scott Allensworth (d/b/a Capital Growth Group Associates and Cobra Development Group LLP), of Newhall, California; his California company E-Slate,…
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Moscow Exchange (MOEX) has just released its monthly equity and bond indices volumes report for the month of September. In September, Moscow Exchange’s Indices reflected the positive trend on the Russian stock market. The MICEX Index was up 2.72% to 2,077.19 (from 2,022.22 on 31 August), while the dollar-denominated RTS Index rose 3.73% to 1,136.75…
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The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has put out details of the cloned firm Alliance Trust Savings Limited. Fraudsters are using the details of firms, authorised by the FCA, to try to convince people that they work for a genuine, authorised firm. Fraudsters are using or giving out the following details as part of their…
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Mr Peter David Roach, of Burradoo, NSW, has been found guilty of fraud and other related offences in the Sydney District Court, ASIC announced earlier today. Mr Roach was the former executive chairman and director of health food chain Healthzone Limited (currently under external administration). Following an ASIC investigation, Mr Roach was charged with conspiracy to…
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The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) today published a report titled Other CRA Products (OCPs), which provides market participants with a better understanding of certain non-traditional products and services offered by credit rating agencies (CRAs). These non-traditional products may include, for example, private ratings, confidential ratings, expected ratings, indicative ratings, prospective…
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Cyprus financial regulator CySEC has announced that, following a decision in the meeting dated 25.09.2017, the authorisation of the Cyprus Investment Firm Concorde Investments (Cyprus) Ltd (‘the Company’), number 189/13, is suspended, pursuant to section 26(2) of the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2007, as in force (‘the Law’), as there…
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The Disruption House (TDH) just announced the availability of three Capital Markets Clusters. These are the first in a series of domain specific models, created to pinpoint key business areas their 18 partner financial firms are focusing upon as part of their overall transformation initiatives. The first Capital Markets Clusters include; Client Servicing, Legal &…
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