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Our experts frequently write blog posts about the findings of the research we are conducting.

Displaying 9 out of 9 results for "Short".

This is why UBS paid the SEC $15 Million over Reverse Convertible Structured Products

(Sep 2016)

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a $15 million settlement with UBS over structured products linked to high volatility stocks today. The SEC press release announcing the settlement and its Order Instituting Proceedings are available on the SEC website. This post explains the underlying notes and why UBS may have paid the SEC a substantial settlement over sales practices related to UBS's reverse convertible notes ("RCNs").

UBS sold thousands of structured notes to retail...

More on the Sordid Tale of the Global Net Lease and ARC Global Trust II Merger

(Sep 2016)

On August 11, 2016 we wrote about the recently announced merger of Global Net Lease, Inc. (GNL) and American Realty Capital Global Trust II (ARC Global Trust II). See Sacha Baron Cohen and Nicholas Schorsch - Masters of the House! ARC Global Trust II's 8-K announcing the merger (see the merger agreement).

Global Net Lease had been non-traded REIT ARC Global Trust Inc. but began trading on the NYSE under the ticker GNL on June 2, 2015. Read our full June 5, 2015 blog post on ARC Global Trust /...

Is the Securities Industry Cleaning Up Its Hiring Practices? Nope

(Aug 2016)

Our BrokerCheck study, How Widespread and Predictable is Stock Broker Misconduct? and Egan Matovs and Seru's The Market for Financial Adviser Misconduct have shined a spotlight on the persistence of bad brokers and the bad firms which give them a platform.

We have posted extensively based on our BrokerCheck research. In Have 1.3% or 7.3% of Stock Brokers Engaged in Misconduct? we explain that competing estimates of broker misconduct differ because of differences in definition of misconduct...

Sacha Baron Cohen and Nicholas Schorsch - Masters of the House!

(Aug 2016)

On Monday, Global Net Lease, Inc. (GNL) and American Realty Capital Global Trust II (ARC Global Trust II) announce a merger. Under the agreement, ARC Global Trust II shareholders will receive 2.27 shares of GNL for each share of ARC Global Trust II common stock they own, which implies $19.59 per each share of ARC Global Trust II share based on GNL's closing price as of August 5, 2016. See ARC Global Trust II's 8-K announcing the merger and merger agreement.

It's a sordid tale, worthy of a...

Another Bad Broker Falsifying his BrokerCheck

(Jul 2016)

Recently we posted about two brokers who had not disclosed that customer complaints had been adjudicated to arbitration awards in favor of the clients but rather continued to report them as pending up to 15 months after the arbitration award was rendered (Bad Brokers Falsify Their BrokerCheck Records and No One Notices) and showed that FINRA corrected these two brokers' BrokerCheck records (Bad Brokers' Incorrect Records Got Partially Corrected Last Week). Last week we identified a few more...

This is Why Merrill Lynch Paid the SEC and FINRA $15 million over Bank of America's VOL Index-linked Structured Products.

(Jun 2016)

The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday announced a settlement with Merrill Lynch over structured products linked to Bank of America's proprietary investable volatility index based on VIX Future contracts ("VOL Index"). The SEC press release announcing the settlement and its Order Instituting Proceedings are available on the SEC website. The companion FINRA settlement press releaseand AWC are available on the FINRA website. Bank of America published its VOL Index in 2010 and shortly...

A Bad Broker Found His Firm; You Should Avoid Them Both

(Jun 2016)

In June 2016, a FINRA panel in Albuquerque, NM ordered Centaurus Financial, Inc. to pay the Claimant, a recent widow when the subject conduct began, $150,000 plus all hearing fees after reasoned findings that "the investments Hashemian recommended while at Centaurus were not suitable", that Centaurus was responsible for Hashemian's actions which "constituted fraudulent and negligently made misrepresentation and omitted material information in the sale of investments" and that "Centaurus...

Ohio Division of Securities, In the Matter of Timothy K. Fife - Ohio IA Registration to be Revoked

(Feb 2016)

In February 2016, after evidentiary hearings, the Hearing Examiner recommended that Timothy Fife's investment adviser representative registration be revoked. The Report and Recommendation is available on our website. Fife's registration is being revoked because he provided investment advice and initiated securities transactions while not licensed in Ohio and because he recommended the unsuitable purchase and holding for extended periods of time of leveraged and inverse ETFs. Dr. McCann ...

Enforcement Actions: Week in Review - January 15th, 2016

(Jan 2016)

SEC ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS

SEC Announces 2016 Examination Priorities
January 11, 2016 (Litigation Release No. 4)
The SEC has announced its new 2016 priorities for its Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations. The new priorities center around liquidity controls, public pension advisers, product promotion, exchange-traded funds, and variable annuities.

Julie M. Riewe, Co-Chief of Asset Management Unit, to Leave SEC After 10 Years of Service
January 11, 2016 (Litigation Release No. 5)...

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