BrokeAndBroker.com Blog by Bill Singer Esq WEEK IN REVIEW

November 23, 2019

http://www.brokeandbroker.com/4920/-insecurities-aegis-frumento-tcr/
As industry lawyer Aegis Frumento sees it, a stockbroker who faces Employee Forgivable Loan claims in an arbitration, now has the ability to raise, in that same arbitration, anti-retaliation claims under Dodd Frank -- and those claims can include double back-pay and attorneys' fees. Unfortunately, there's a catch.  In order to be eligible for Dodd Frank anti-retaliation remedies, you need to be deemed a "whistleblower" via the filing of a Form TCR with the SEC. 

http://www.brokeandbroker.com/4918/sec-whistleblower/
It's nice that the SEC found three whistleblowers to have been of such wonderful assistance. Unfortunately, I don't believe that this matter exemplifies the importance of the SEC's whistleblower program to that federal regulator. As I and other whistleblower advocates have argued over the years, the SEC's whistleblower program is riddled with unacceptable processing delays and permeated by what comes off as a cultural hostility to outside tips. Worse, the SEC's whistleblower program seems intent on perpetuating a counter-productive and enervating process that serves to impede the timely payment of earned bounties. Consider that in the seven years since the 2012 payment by the SEC of its first whistleblower award, only 70 individuals have been awarded payments. The simple math of 70 divided by 7 yields the somewhat disappointing average of 10 awards per year -- if we divide that number over a year, we have just about .0833 awards per month during the existence of the SEC's Whistlblower Program. Think about it -- each month, only 8/10ths of a human being gets an SEC Whistleblower Award. 

http://www.brokeandbroker.com/4917/finra-arbitration-racism/
Fourteen-year veteran New York Life employee Ketler Bosse was the company's first African-American District Agent. Following his 2016 termination, he filed a federal Complaint against various New York Life entities asserting discrimination, retaliation, and civil rights violations. NY Life moved to force the case into FINRA arbitration. 


A digital bank that raised $110 million from investors including Leonardo DiCaprio has run into trouble (CNBC.com by Hugh Son)

Cybercriminal Charged With Unauthorized Computer Intrusion, Wire Fraud, Securities Fraud And Other Crimes / Defendant, Extradited from Ukraine, Allegedly Engaged in an Eight-Year Campaign of Cybercrime (DOJ Release)

Russian Hacker Who Used NeverQuest Malware To Steal Money From Victims' Bank Accounts Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To Four Years In Prison (DOJ Release)

Former Partner Of Locke Lord LLP Convicted In Manhattan Federal Court Of Conspiracy To Commit Money Laundering And Bank Fraud In Connection With Scheme To Launder $400 Million Of OneCoin Fraud Proceeds (DOJ Release)

Korean National Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison For Role In Foreign Exchange Trading Scam More than 400 investors lost more than $60 Million (DOJ Release)

Bank Insider And Two Others Arrested In Bank Bribery And Money Laundering Conspiracy (DOJ Release)

Two Delaware County Men Charged In $21 Million Insurance Financing Fraud Scheme (DOJ Release)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment Against Former S.A.C. Capital Portfolio Manager (SEC Release)

SEC Obtains Final Judgment in Stock Manipulation Scheme (SEC Release)

FINRA Fines and Suspends Former Royal Alliance Rep Over Customer Impersonations. In the Matter of Harold A. Schwartz, Respondent (FINRA AWC)


Former Trader for Major Multinational Bank Convicted for Price Fixing and Bid Rigging in FX Market (DOJ Release)

Former Beaufort Securities Investment Manager Pleads Guilty to Conspiracies to Commit Securities Fraud and to Defraud the United States by Failing to Comply With Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (DOJ Release)

10 Defendants Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Running Nationwide Telemarketing Fraud Scheme Targeting The Elderly / Defendants Allegedly Created and Used "Money Sucking Website" to Identify Vulnerable Victims Whom They Then Targeted and Victimized (DOJ Release)

[In]Securities: Who'll Be Watching Whom? by Aegis Frumento Esq (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog)

CEO Of Security Company Charged With Multimillion-Dollar Stock And Carbon Credit Fraud (DOJ Release)

Former CEO of Braskem Indicted for His Role in Bribery Scheme / Approximately $250 Million Allegedly Diverted from Braskem Through a Secret Slush Fund to Pay Bribes to Government Officials and Political Parties in Brazil (DOJ Release)

FINRA Censure and Fines NYLIFE over Higher-Risk Mutual Funds' Suitability Supervision. In the Matter of NYLIFE Securities LLC, Respondent (FINRA AWC)

FINRA Suspends MML Investors' Rep Over Outside Business Activity and Untimely Rule 8210 Responses. In the Matter of Alexander G. Lycouris, Respondent (FINRA AWC)




SEC Whistleblower Program: Three Persons Deemed One Claimant and the 8/10ths of a Human Being (BrokeAndBroker.com Blog)

Husband And Wife Admit Ponzi Scheme Relating To Hedge Fund Investments In Foreign Currencies (DOJ Release)

Brooklyn Businessman Sentenced to 18 Months' Imprisonment for Defrauding Investors in Cryptocurrency Initial Coin Offerings (DOJ Release)

Alleged Cryptocurrency Fraudster Extradited From Thailand To Face Charges In Multi-Million Dollar Investment Scheme / Roger Karlsson allegedly defrauded more than 3,500 victims of more than $11 million (DOJ Release)

Raymond James' Rep Hit with TRO In JP Morgan Case.J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Plaintiff, v. Erik W. Weiss, Defendant (Order on Plaintiff's Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, 19-CV-04163) 

FINRA Fines and Suspends Rep For Restaurant Business. In the Matter of Michael Jason Collins, Respondent (FINRA AWC)

FINRA Bars Merrill Lynch Registered Senior Client Associate For Conversion. In the Matter of Julie Ann Mineard, Respondent (FINRA AWC)