Bartle Doo Article Archives

Former ING Broker Runs Afoul of Beneficiary, Borrowing, And Away Account Rules

April 19, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2013/04/19/former-ing-broker-runs-afoul-of-borrowing-and-away-account-rules/

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Frank John Tarazon submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Frank John Tarazon, Respondent (AWC 2011027681401, April 8, 2013).

Chase Employee Took Cash From Customer's Lost Wallet

April 18, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2013/04/18/chase-employee-took-cash-from-customers-lost-wallet/

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Javier A. Echeverria submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Javier A. Echeverria, Respondent (AWC 2012034616801, April 11 2013).

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Eco-Trade Provides Shareholders with an Update Regarding Trading Halt – Company Working with FINRA t

April 17, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

Filed under: Investing

Eco-Trade Provides Shareholders with an Update Regarding Trading Halt – Company Working with FINRA to Resolve

GREAT FALLS, Mont.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Eco-Trade Corp. (OTCQB: BOPT), an independent oil and gas exploration company (the “Company”), today commented on its recent trading halt by informing shareholders of its communications with FINRA, and that Company has been taking a proactive stance and has been in direct contact with FINRA regarding short activities and solutions to protect shareholder value.

The halt was conducted under FINRA Rule U3 – Trading Halt – Extraordinary Events – Trading is halted due to FINRA‘s determination that an extraordinary event has occurred or is ongoing that has had a material effect on the market for the OTC Equity Security or has caused or has the potential to cause major disruption to the marketplace and/or significant uncertainty in the settlement and clearance process.

The Company maintains that the recent market activity has been a coordinated effort to short the common stock. As such, attorneys for the Company have spoken with representatives from FINRA and are supplying them with documentation regarding the trading activity in an effort to see an immediately lift of the trading halt.

The Company is working as quickly and as diligently as possible, keeping the interests of its shareholders as a core concern.

Safe Harbor

The information in this release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “strategy,” “plan,” “may,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks as well as uncertainties, including those discussed in the following cautionary statements and elsewhere in this release. You should carefully review the information disclosed within the section entitled “Risk Factors” contained in the Company’s Report on Form 10Q filed on November 13 2012, as well as the information contained in this release, and amended risk factors to investment that may be found at http://www.ecotradecorporation.com/contact/safe_harbor.html when assessing the Company and its business. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We

From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/17/eco-trade-provides-shareholders-with-an-update-reg/

Not About Trust As A Trustee For Former Wells Fargo Advisor

April 17, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2013/04/17/not-about-trust-as-a-trustee-for-former-wells-fargo-advisor/

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Joseph J. Antosh, Jr., submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Joseph J. Antosh, Jr., Respondent (AWC 2011028161601, April 8, 2013).

Small Fish Fry On Wall Street

April 12, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2013/04/12/small-fish-fried-by-wall-street-regulators-but-big-fish-thrown-back-in/

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Robert David Smith submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Robert David Smith, Respondent (AWC 2011029740301, April 9, 2013).

By M. Joy, Hayes, The Motley Fool

Revolving Door Practices May Leave Investors' Heads Spinning

April 12, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

Filed under: Investing

Want a good way to make a bundle at your corporate job? Leave it and go work for the government. Then come back.

That’s what Lanny Breuer did when he left his job at law firm Covington & Burling — a law firm that worked for some of the nation’s biggest banks — to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). After Frontline broadcast a particularly damning expose criticizing Breuer for failing to prosecute (or even adequately investigate!) Wall Street banks for fraud, he resigned and went right back to Covington & Burling, with a $4 million salary to cushion his fall.

In other words, Lanny Breuer passed through the revolving door between the public and private sectors, in which employees regularly go from one sector to the other and then back again.

Let’s take a look at why this practice should concern investors, even as corporate executives benefit from keeping that revolving door well-greased.

Benefits for corporations
Private companies can benefit from having former employees in government positions because they often empathize with their former employers. This makes corporate alumni more likely to approach enforcement and policy making in a way that benefits their former employers.

Also, private companies are willing to pay big bucks for former government workers’ insider expertise and, importantly, the connections of public-sector executives.

Major players
There are plenty of examples of major figures who’ve passed through the revolving door and have been accused of questionable behavior as a result of loyalties to their former employers. Here are just a couple.

Before serving as chair of the SEC, Mary Schapiro headed the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) — a non-government organization Wall Street set up to regulate itself. During Schapiro‘s time there, she gained the reputation as “a regulator with a light touch ” as the fines levied in 2008 by FINRA dropped by 73% from those levied in 2005 by its predecessor agency, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). Keep in mind that Schapiro’s tenure overlapped with the Madoff scandal and the 2008 economic crisis, which means she had plenty of villains to chase. When Schapiro was asked to chair the SEC, she got a $9 million sendoff and proceeded to lead the SEC through what some have characterized as a period of wrist-slapping.
Like Lanny Breuer, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder was a partner at Covington & Burling, which has served clients like Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. Along with Breuer, Holder has been criticizedfor failing to prosecute any mortgage servicing companies, despite significant evidence of possible illegal foreclosures.

Greasing the revolving door
What keeps this revolving door rolling? One culprit might be the existence of compensation policies that privilege employees who leave for government positions. For example, Citigroup recently agreed to vest restricted stock and pro-rate incentive and retention awards for Jack Lew when he left his position as chief operating officer of its

From: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/04/12/revolving-door-practices-may-leave-investors-heads/

Line Between Signature And Forgery Trips Up Former Wells Fargo Broker

April 11, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

From: http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2013/04/11/line-between-signature-and-forgery-trips-up-former-wells-fargo-broker/

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Frank J. Pingatore, III submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Frank J. Pingatore, III, Respondent (AWC 2010022735201, April 5, 2013).

Former Wells Fargo Broker Swallows Bitter Pill After Pharma Sales

April 9, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, John K. Woch submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of John K. Woch, Respondent (AWC 2010023334501, April 2, 2013). …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

By Russ Krull, The Motley Fool

Wal-Mart Dominates Bond-Buying

April 8, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

Filed under: Investing

New issues in U.S. corporate bond markets topped $24 billion last week, with one big borrower accounting for more than 20% of the total. Here are a few of the highlights.

Wal-Mart stocked the shelves with $5 billion spread over three-, five-, 10-, and 30-year notes. The SEC filing listed “general corporate purposes,” including share buybacks, refinancing, acquisitions, and capital expenditures. The retail giant’s credit rating let it price the bonds at the low coupon rates shown below. The spreads over comparable U.S. Treasuries range from 0.26 to 0.88%.

Principal Amount	Coupon Rate	Note Matures
$1 billion	0.6%	April 2016
$1.25 billion	1.13%	April 2018
$1.75 billion	2.55%	April 2023
$1 billion	4%	April 2043

Source: Wal-Mart 424B2 SEC filing dated April 5, 2013.

Even though Wal-Mart wasn’t specific, let’s pull the refinance thread. A search at FINRA‘s bond center shows Wal-Mart with five bond issues maturing over the next 12 months. The total principal amount is $4.195 billion, with coupon rates ranging from 0.75% to 7.25%. The annual coupon payments on the $5 billion of newly issued paper are nearly $59 million per year lower than the coupon payments for the $4.195 billion of paper maturing over the coming year. Of course, Wal-Mart didn’t say how much of the new money would go to redeeming maturing bonds.

Interested in an investment-grade bond paying 7.75%? Barclays just issued $1 billion of 10-year notes that fit the bill. Before calling brokers to place orders on a deal that seems too good to be true, a Foolish investor checks to see if there’s a catch. And there is: The bonds are contingent convertible, meaning they convert to something else if some contingent trigger event happens. In this case, if Barclays’ tier-one common equity ratio drops below 7%, the bonds convert to worthless paper. So much for bonds as low-risk investments.

DISH Network subsidiary DISH DBS broadcast new five- and seven-year issues for a total of $2.3 billion to be used for “general corporate purposes, which may include wireless and spectrum-related strategic transactions.” The original plan was an issue of approximately $1 billion. DISH didn’t say what happened between Tuesday and Wednesday to make “approximately” mean “more than twice as much.”

Home Depot hammered out $2 billion split between 10- and 30-year paper. At least some of the money is going to shareholders via share repurchases, while the rest will be used for the ever-popular “general corporate purposes.”

I see two takeaways from last week’s new issues. First, low rates continue to save money for companies refinancing debt, borrowing for capital expenditures, or even repurchasing shares. Second, bond research can’t stop with yield and credit rating. If something’s priced out of line with the rest of the market, there’s usually a reason.

Play it safe
If you’re on the lookout for high-yielding stocks, The Motley Fool has …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Former Chase Broker Initials And Signs His Way Out Of A Job

April 4, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Taylor C. Parkin submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Taylor C. Parkin, Respondent (AWC 20110269994101, March 27, 2013). …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

YouTube Annuities Videos Lead To Fine And Suspension

April 3, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Ralph William Hicks Jr., submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Ralph William Hicks Jr., Respondent (AWC 2010023789701, March 28,2013). …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Chase Banker And Broker Uses Unauthorized Customer Credit Cards

April 2, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Casi Marie Martin submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Casi Marie Martin, Respondent (AWC 2012033861801, March 26, 2013). …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

By John Maxfield, The Motley Fool

Apple Booted by Goldman, Fannie Mae's Record Profit, and Other Financial Stories

April 2, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

Filed under: Investing

There’s never an absence of news impacting financial stocks, but weeding through all of it can be a chore in and of itself. To that end, here are five of today’s biggest finance-related stories.

1. Fannie Mae’s record profit
In September of 2008, the U.S. government had to step in and seize the then-ostensibly private mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The plan at the time was to prevent their failure, stabilize the mortgage market, and to then gradually wind the entities down. As The Wall Street Journal noted at the time, “[Treasury Secretary Henry] Paulson’s weekend announcement represented one of the most sweeping interventions in financial markets since the Depression, essentially putting the government in charge of helping finance American mortgages.”

The question of what to do with at least Fannie Mae became slightly more complicated today, after the now-government controlled entity reported its largest annual net income in its history — click here to see the press release. For the fiscal year 2012, it earned $17.2 billion — $7.6 billion of which came in the fourth quarter alone. “Solid business fundamentals such as improving performance of our book of business and improvements in the housing market led us to report the largest annual and quarterly net income in the company’s history,” said Susan McFarland, executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We expect to remain profitable for the foreseeable future and return significant value to taxpayers.”

2. Bank of America exercises its Fed-given rights
That didn’t take long. Less than three weeks ago, the nation’s largest banks learned whether or not they’d be allowed to return more capital to shareholders following the Federal Reserve‘s comprehensive capital analysis and review. For its part, as I discussed here, Bank of America got the go ahead to repurchase $5 billion in common stock and $5.5 billion in preferred shares. And as promised, it notified investors yesterday in this press release that it had submitted redemption notices for the latter. The move contributes to B of A’s efforts to simplify and boost its capital base in the face of the Basel III requirements.

3. Former SEC chief goes through revolving door
The line between Washington and Wall Street became a little less distinct today, after the former chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, announced that she will be joining the consulting firm Promontory Financial Group, which has “built a reputation as a shadow regulator by hiring scores of former government officials,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

To say that Shapiro is a prime catch for lobbying firm is an understatement. She’s spent “28 of the last 32 years as a regulator” and is the only person to have led all three of Wall Street‘s biggest regulators: the SEC, the CFTC, and FINRA. But don’t get the wrong idea, “In …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

Citrix ShareFile Helps Financial Firms Meet Compliance Requirements with New Archiving Capability

April 2, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

Filed under: Investing

Citrix ShareFile Helps Financial Firms Meet Compliance Requirements with New Archiving Capability

SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Citrix today announced that ShareFile, the company’s popular secure file sharing service, now offers Archiving for Financial Services to help firms comply with data archiving regulations. This offering enables financial services organizations to satisfy their record-keeping requirements under SEC and FINRA rules and avoid costly fines associated with not meeting regulatory requirements. In the past year, customer adoption in the financial sector doubled as more institutions turned to ShareFile for a secure and easy-to-use solution to store and send large files. Today’s news helps the company further address the market.

Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and Broker-Dealers (BDs) are required to maintain records of customer contact in alignment with archiving regulations. Many use one service to collaborate and share documents that are not covered by archiving laws, while simultaneously maintaining a separate system for their regulated documents. ShareFile simplifies the user experience into one secure solution.

Key Benefits

ShareFile Archiving for Financial Services helps users comply with record-keeping requirements, such as SEC and FINRA, by offering retained, indexed, auditable and searchable records of client communications for the period required or longer. Account files, folders, sent messages, active and inactive links and notifications are archived rather than deleted when no longer needed.

Frontier Wealth Management and Pennsylvania Trust are among the first companies to select ShareFile Archiving for Financial Services to help them achieve compliance.

Quotes

According to Terri McClure, Senior Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group, “Given concerns about data security, the threat of lost IP (intellectual property), regulatory compliance violations, or worse, Enterprise Strategy Group has long maintained that organizations should increasingly focus on gaining control of individual employees’ online file sharing accounts by providing and standardizing on one IT-approved solution for the entire organization.”

“Our customers’ needs and workstyles inform every design choice that we make,” said Jesse Lipson, VP & GM, Data Sharing, Citrix. “Today, it is more critical than ever for financial institutions to maintain access to accurate records of their communications with customers to ensure they remain compliant with industry regulations. ShareFile offers the most complete electronic record keeping solution for compliance on the market, providing customers with the ease and assurance that they can access the data they want when they most need …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

By Dan Caplinger, The Motley Fool

This Single Mistake Could Cost You $76,901

March 30, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

Filed under: Investing

Many investors seek professional advice to help them pick suitable investments. But few of them completely understand just how costly that advice can be. Let’s look at how, with just one common mistake, you could end up costing yourself thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, even if you make relatively modest investments.

One of the ways many brokers get paid is by selling mutual funds that carry front-end sales loads. In funds with sales loads, a percentage of your investment goes not to the mutual fund to invest on your behalf but rather to your broker or the company your broker works for.

Regulators provide only limited protection to investors with regard to sales loads. The Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t limit sales loads at all, instead leaving that job to the independent non-profit Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. FINRA imposes an 8.5% maximum on sales loads, with lower limits applying if funds charge other types of fees as well.

The impact of sales loads
At first glance, a sales load may not seem like all that big a deal. Paying your broker $85 on a $1,000 investment may seem like a reasonable amount of compensation, especially if your broker helped you put together a broader strategic plan for your investments both now and in the future.

But the long-term impact of sales loads is much greater. Because your sales load gets taken off the top of your initial investment, it never has a chance to earn a return on your behalf. So not only do you end up losing $85; you also lose the potential gains and income that your lost $85 would have produced.

Moreover, if you’re like most investors, you’ll continue making additional investments over time. A sales load can apply not just to your initial investment but to subsequent purchases as well, so you’ll pay that $85 over and over again.

OK, but where do you get $76,901?!
When you combine the impact of repeated sales loads and lost earnings, the final cost of investing in a fund with a sales load can be truly shocking. If you invest $1,000 annually for 40 years in a fund that charges an 8.5% sales load and produces an average 10% annual return, you’ll end up with $445,469. That doesn’t sound bad, until you find out that a fund with similar returns but that doesn’t charge a sales load will leave you with $486,582 — more than $41,000 in your final nest egg.

Most people aren’t able to start saving early enough to go 40 years before retiring. If you get a late start but make up for it by making a greater contribution, the consequences of a sales load are even larger. Invest $5,000 per year for 30 years, and the difference in total return between a fund with a load and one without a load comes to that $76,901 figure.

Even with the costs of sales loads, …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Stockbroker Makes Bad Impression Impersonating Customer's Husband

March 28, 2013 Bartle Doo Leave a comment

For the purpose of proposing a settlement of rule violations alleged by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), without admitting or denying the findings, prior to a regulatory hearing, and without an adjudication of any issue, Wai Keung Man submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”), which FINRA accepted. In the Matter of Wai Keung Man, Respondent (AWC 2011028139-01, March 25, 2013). …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest