As the familiar adage goes, the higher the risk, the higher the reward. Of course, when it comes to investment strategies, risk is often one characteristic around which you can make informed decisions to mitigate or embrace, depending on your level of risk tolerance.
Yet there is one investment risk – the risk of fraud
In a stark reminder to thoroughly confirm your stockbroker’s background, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently charged a California man with defrauding investors of millions of dollars by using a patently false persona. [1]
The SEC’s complaint charged Justin Costello with violations of the anti-fraud provisions of several federal securities laws as a result
Even a well-trusted investment advisor can take advantage of their client relationships, as illustrated by a recent lawsuit brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).
Per the SEC’s September 29, 2022 complaint, Bradley Goodbred, a registered investment adviser based in Illinois, misappropriated a total of $1,295,000 from a 97-year-old client between 2012
While it may be difficult to verify first-hand how secure your stockbroker keeps your personal information, a recent order from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows that even the largest stockbrokers are prone to customer data breaches.
On September 20, 2022, the SEC fined financial services giant Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (“MSSB”) $35 million