News from Banks Law Office | Blog

On July 7, 2023, FINRA issued an AWC (Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent) sanctioning American Trust Investment Services’ broker John James Hoidas. Hoidas was assessed a deferred fine of $40,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for 18 months. He did not admit or deny the findings but consented to the…

On July 7, 2023, an AWC (Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent) was issued against Laidlaw broker Christopher Harrington, resulting in a deferred fine of $11,500 and a suspension from being a broker for nine months. Harrington consented to these sanctions without admitting or denying the findings, which revealed that he engaged in misconduct that harmed a…

Litigation Funding Is Criticized Because Of Predatory Practices CBS News aired a 60-minutes segment titled “Litigation Funding: a multibillion-dollar industry for investments in lawsuits with little oversight.” As the segment explained, “litigation funding” is the practice of funding someone’s lawsuit in return for the right to collect a portion of the money that person recovers…

Banks Law Office represents more than 40 individuals who allege that Fitbit has failed to pay them for Fitbit Ionic smartwatches they submitted to the Fitbit Ionics recall. If Fitbit has refused to pay you for Ionics that you submitted to the recall, please contact Banks Law Office today. On March 2, 2022, Fitbit and…

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is an organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. On May 12th, 2023 FINRA announced that SW Financial had been expelled from its membership for multiple violations. The violations include making misrepresentations to customers about its sales of private placement offerings of pre-initial public offering (pre-IPO) securities, churning customer accounts,…

The SEC refuses to recommend  a fiduciary rule for broker-dealers; new rule reiterates FINRA suitability standard and allows  conflicts of interest between brokers and investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission in a 4-1 vote has rejected the fiduciary rule as the standard of conduct for broker-dealers and their representatives.  Instead, the SEC has proposed “Regulation…

Investor abuse and trust are explored in this video posted by the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA). Bob Banks answers the question, “why don’t more investors bring claims against their financial advisers?”