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Article: Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat

Article - Media, Publications

Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat

John O’Donnell, 13 July 2019

Europe’s Baltic states are at risk from further Russian money laundering, a top European police official said after several big banks were hit by scandals centered on the region.

Pedro Felicio, who is responsible for fighting money laundering at European police agency Europol, told Reuters that “huge inflows of criminal money” are mainly coming into Europe from Russia and China.

Russian money is alleged to be at the heart of multi-billion dollar laundering rackets that engulfed Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest lender and Sweden’s Swedbank. Continue reading “Article: Europol highlights Russian money as biggest laundering threat”

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Article: Nymox Pharmaceutical: Assessing The Short And Long Ideas

Article - Media, Publications

Nymox Pharmaceutical: Assessing The Short And Long Ideas

Avisol Capital Partners, 13 June 2019

Nymox Pharmaceutical (NYMX) has been accused of being an outright serial scam by well-known biopharma short expert Richard Pearson. This was from August 10, 2016, and he had this headline for his article – “Nymox: This Offshore ‘Biotech’ Promotion Will Go To Zero (Yes, Zero).” In that well-written article, he went on to claim how the company hid details of poor trial data from the public, while senior management continued to dump stock without timely SEC disclosure, how the company’s auditor, legal counsel, bankers are all “closely tied to regulatory violations, stock promotions and/or outright fraud,” and how the author filed an SEC complaint against the company after publishing the article.

That article took the stock down by almost 50%. However, it quickly recovered in the same month to soar back to above where it was before the fall. Couple more short articles followed over the years. Some people, I am sure, made money during that fall and rise.
Continue reading “Article: Nymox Pharmaceutical: Assessing The Short And Long Ideas”

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Fined: Spencer Edwards, Inc. Fined by FINRA (June 2019)

Fined

Spencer Edwards, Inc. Fined by FINRA (June 2019)

11 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was suspended from accepting deposits of stock certificates and liquidating previously deposited certificated securities until it implements measures to remedy the AML violations addressed in the AWC, fined $250,000 and ordered to pay $512,261, plus interest, in restitution to customers.

Read full report.

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Fined: U. S. Boston Capital Corporation Fined by FINRA

Fined

U. S. Boston Capital Corporation Fined by FINRA

10 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $125,000 and required to review and revise, as necessary, its systems, policies and procedures regarding consolidated reports, and certify that those systems, policies and procedures are reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the applicable FINRA rules. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system and failed to establish, maintain and enforce WSPs, reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable securities laws, regulations and FINRA rules regarding registered representatives’ creation and use of consolidated reports.

Read full report.

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Fined: Ross, Sinclaire & Associates, LLC Fined by FINRA

Fined

Ross, Sinclaire & Associates, LLC Fined by FINRA

10 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $200,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to disclose material facts while assisting with the preparation and circulation of a confidential information memorandum (CIM) to accredited investors for a private placement of notes.

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Fined: Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated Fined by FINRA

Fined

Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated Fined by FINRA

7 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $150,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it published seven research reports about an issuer without disclosing that the research analyst who authored the reports was engaged in employment discussions with the issuer that constituted an actual, material conflict of interest.

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Article: Swiss regulator to fine banks €80m over foreign exchange cartel

Article - Media, Publications

Swiss regulator to fine banks €80m over foreign exchange cartel

The Irish Times, 06 June 2019

Four British and US banks will be fined about 90 million Swiss francs (€80m) this week by Switzerland’s competition authority for colluding to rig foreign exchange markets, weeks after the European Union handed out €1 billion of penalties for similar misconduct.

Weko, as the Swiss regulator is known, found that traders at Barclays, JPMorgan, Citigroup and Royal Bank of Scotland worked together in a cartel-style arrangement to manipulate currency prices for their own gain, according to people briefed on the decision. Continue reading “Article: Swiss regulator to fine banks €80m over foreign exchange cartel”

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Fined: Nomura Securities International, Inc. Fined by FINRA

Fined

Nomura Securities International, Inc. Fined by FINRA

3 June 2019

An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $225,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to report and inaccurately reported reportable over-thecounter (OTC) options positions to the Large Options Position Reporting system (LOPR) and untimely reported options positions to the FINRA Trade Reporting Facility®.

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Fined: Lime Brokerage LLC Fined by FINRA (June 2019)

Fined

Lime Brokerage LLC Fined by FINRA

3 June 2019

A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $75,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to accurately calculate its net capital resulting in net capital deficiencies in amounts ranging from $3,348 to $449,666. The findings stated that the firm improperly calculated its customer reserve formula on one occasion and, as a result, failed to make a sufficient deposit in its reserve account, resulting in a hindsight deficiency of $59,590 for one month.

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Article: Part 7: Illegal Naked Shorting: DTCC Continuous Net Settlement and Stock Borrowing Programs Have Loopholes That Facilitate Illegal Naked Shorting

Article - Media

Part 7: Illegal Naked Shorting: DTCC Continuous Net Settlement and Stock Borrowing Programs Have Loopholes That Facilitate Illegal Naked Shorting

Larry Smith

Smith On Stocks, 31 May 2019

There is an integral relationship between the DTCC and hedge funds. The DTCC is owned by Prime Brokers; these are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrell Lynch and other household name investment banks. Prime Brokers provide basic services to hedge funds that allow them to trade with multiple brokerage houses while maintaining a centralized master account at their prime broker containing cash and securities. The prime broker offers stock loan services, portfolio reporting, consolidated cash management and other services. Hedge fund support is a very meaningful percentage of the net income of Prime Brokers.

Read full article.

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Article: THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS

Article - Media, Publications

THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS

Nicholas Larsen, International Banker, 20 May 2019

On April 5, Lars Idermark resigned from his position as the chairman of Swedbank, headquartered in Sweden. Idermark stepped down from his position only a week after the chief executive officer, and previously the supervisor of Swedbank operations in the Baltic states, Birgitte Bonnesen, was fired. The moves come amid sweeping allegations that Sweden’s oldest bank was involved in laundering billions of dollars’ worth of Russian money. In particular, the lender’s Baltic units have been named as being complicit in handling illegal funds from Russia as well as other smaller former Soviet countries. Continue reading “Article: THE FALLOUT FROM RUSSIAN MONEY LAUNDERING CONTINUES TO GROW FOR EUROPEAN BANKS”

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Article: ReWalk Robotics Completes One-for-Twenty-Five Reverse Share Split

Article - Media, Publications

ReWalk Robotics Completes One-for-Twenty-Five Reverse Share Split

GLOBE NEWSWIRE, 29 May 2019

YOKNEAM ILIT, Israel and MARLBOROUGH, Mass., March 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ReWalk Robotics Ltd. (RWLK) (“ReWalk” or the “Company”) reported today that it has completed the reverse share split of ReWalk ordinary share at a ratio of one-for-twenty-five shares, which will take effect on April 1, 2019. The Company also increased its authorized and registered share capital and amended its Articles of Association to reflect the reverse share split and the increase in share capital. Following the reverse share split and increase in authorized share capital, the total number of ordinary shares that the Company is authorized to issue will be 60 million shares, the par value per share of the ordinary shares will be NIS 0.25 and the authorized share capital of the Company will be NIS 15 million.