Foreign Collusion, Naked Shorting (Counterfeiting) & Money Laundering — All Illicit Wealth
Halifax America LLC Fined by FINRA
6 March 2019
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $60,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it made misleading statements to FINRA in connection with its application for registration as a new FINRA member.
TriPoint Global Equities, LLC Fined by FINRA
5 March 2019
An Offer of Settlement was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $100,000, ordered to pay disgorgement of commissions in the amount of $34,001, plus interest, prohibited for a period of 12 months from directly or indirectly receiving, in any manner, any penny stock in any form and required to submit a certification that its policies and procedures are reasonably designed with respect to its compliance with FINRA Rule 3310 and the registration requirements of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933, including in connection with the firm’s private placement business and any offered securities.
Great Point Capital LLC Fined by FINRA
4 March 2019
An AWC was issued in which the firm was censured and fined $20,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it inaccurately or untimely submitted Reportable Order Events (ROEs) to the Order Audit Trail System (OATS™).
COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR SUES RIVAL OVER FRAUD, RACKETEERING
Oregon Small Business Association, 27 February 2019
Portland-based Columbia Sportswear has filed a $20 million lawsuit against a competitor, accusing Seirus Innovative Accessories of San Diego and its leaders of wire fraud, perjury, and racketeering.
Columbia’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, is just the latest volley in six-year intellectual property fight rife with accusations of perjury, fraud, and destruction of evidence.
Columbia accused Seirus of violating its two patents by copying its heat-reflective Omni-Heat technology, according to The Oregonian. Columbia uses the profitable technology introduced in 2010 in its clothing, including shirts, gloves, socks and jackets. Seirus uses a similar reflective fabric in its products.
Continue reading “Article: COLUMBIA SPORTSWEAR SUES RIVAL OVER FRAUD, RACKETEERING”
Short-seller Andrew Left to appeal against Hong Kong market ban
Reuters, 26 February 2019
HONG KONG (Reuters) – U.S. short seller Andrew Left lost his legal bid on Tuesday to overturn a five-year ban from Hong Kong’s financial markets and a fine for market manipulation.
Left, founder of U.S.-based short-seller Citron Research, was banned in 2016 after he was found culpable of market misconduct in connection with the publication of a research report on Chinese property developer China Evergrande Group.
Solidus Raises $3 Million in Seed Financing to Tackle Digital Asset Market Manipulation
Business Wire, 25 February 2019
Solidus Labs, provider of a machine learning-powered trade surveillance platform tailored for digital assets, secured a $3 million seed round of financing led by Hanaco Ventures. Additional participants in the round include Global Founders Capital, as well as angel investors and Wall Street veterans David Krell and Norman Sorensen. With the proceeds Solidus’ team of former Goldman Sachs engineers is set to address a major challenge preventing greater institutional and mainstream adoption of digital assets – trade manipulation and market integrity.
Solidus’ web-based platform is already deployed with diverse clients including exchanges, broker-dealers, hedge funds and market makers in Europe, the United States and Israel. The funding round will be used to continue expanding the company’s engineering and machine learning teams, as well as sales, marketing and customer success operations. Solidus is accommodating growing demand from digital asset firms, as those strive to satisfy intensifying regulatory oversight and high compliance standards of traditional financial institutions. Continue reading “Article: Solidus Raises $3 Million in Seed Financing to Tackle Digital Asset Market Manipulation”
Finanzkrimi bei Wirecard Zahlungsverkehrt
Martin Hesse
SPIEGEL, 20 February 2019
Ugly English translation
Payment transactions
Continue reading “Article: Wirecard what is state prosecutor investigating: three possibilities”
CSSC Brokerage Services, Inc. Suspended by FINRA
19 February 2019
An Office of Hearing Officers (OHO) decision became final in which the firm was fined $120,000, suspended from participating in private securities offerings in all capacities for one year and ordered to pay $130,000, plus interest, jointly and severally, in restitution to customers. The sanctions were based on findings that the firm willfully violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and violated FINRA Rule 2020 by defrauding investors by offering and selling securities through a bridge loan offering designed to keep its floundering parent company afloat after more than three years of failed deals, significant business losses and mounting debts that the parent company could not pay.
Wolf Richter, 19 February 2019
As investors are fleeing Australia’s housing bust, sales of new houses have plunged to record lows, and home prices in the Sydney and Melbourne metros have dropped 12% and 9% from their respective peaks in mid and late 2017. Combined, the two metros account for about two-thirds of residential property value in Australia. A two-decade-long housing boom, interrupted by only a few minor dips, led to two of the most magnificent housing bubbles in the world, and they’re not “plateauing” or anything. Continue reading “Article: Forced End of “Ponzi-Like Leverage” & “Fraudulent Lending” Turns Australia’s House Price Bubble into “Property Bloodbath””
Germany bans Wirecard ‘shorting’ as prosecutors probe FT journalist
Arno Schuetze
Reuters, 18 February 2019
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s financial watchdog has banned “short” selling of Wirecard shares due to volatility in the payments firm’s stock following reports in the Financial Times which are now the subject of an investigation by German authorities.
Munich prosecutors said on Monday they were investigating a Financial Times journalist, confirming that they had widened a probe into a possible violation of securities trading rules.
Top US investor in charge of £3bn Russian hedge fund jailed over alleged £29m fraud
Oliver Carroll, 16 February 2019
A Russian court has sentenced a prominent American investor to two months of pre-trial detention in a development that has sent shockwaves through the country’s business community.
Michael Calvey, the founder of Baring Vostok Capital Partners, was one of several executives arrested on Friday.
He is one of the last major western private equity investors to remain in Russia, with his investment company claiming to have raised nearly $4bn (£3.1bn) in capital.
On Friday, a judge ordered Mr Calvey be detained for 72 hours, but agreed to a longer restriction less than a day later. Continue reading “Article: Top US investor in charge of £3bn Russian hedge fund jailed over alleged £29m fraud”
Cantone Research Inc. Fined by FINRA
14 February 2019
The firm, Anthony Cantone and Christine Cantone appealed a National Adjudicatory Council (NAC) decision to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm was fined $150,000, jointly and severally, with Anthony Cantone and fined $73,000, jointly and severally, with Christine Cantone. Anthony Cantone was suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for 15 months. Christine Cantone was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any principal and supervisory capacity for two years and required to requalify by examination as a securities principal upon completion of her suspension.
What happened to Namaste Technologies (TSXV: N)
Ted Ohashi, 13 February 2019
QUESTION: What’s happening with Namaste Technologies (TSXV: N). I know it was one of your top recommendations a few years ago and then you cooled on it. Now I read the founder and CEO is fired by the Board and his uncle the Chairman is selling stock.
ANSWER: There’s no joy in kicking someone when they are down so that is not my objective. I often talk about the importance of management in the investment decision making process and Namaste Technologies (TSXV: N) is an excellent case in point. But the point of it is although reports by those much abhorred short sellers who write hatchet jobs on companies that describe in graphic terms why they believe a stock is extremely overvalued. But time and time again, they do provide a valuable service.
Continue reading “Article: What happened to Namaste Technologies (TSXV: N)”
Kestra Investment Services, LLC fka NFP Advisor Services, LLC Fined by FINRA
13 February 2019
A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was issued in which the firm was censured, fined $225,000 and required to provide FINRA with a plan to remediate eligible customers who qualified for, but did not receive, the applicable mutual fund sales-charge waiver or appropriate share class. As part of this settlement, the firm agrees to pay restitution to eligible customers, which is estimated to total $1,947,704 (i.e. the amount eligible customers were overcharged, inclusive of interest).
Overstock founder Patrick Byrne pitches radical transformation of government services via blockchain
Aaron Hankin, 12 February 2019
Even Venezuela can easily be fixed, Byrne claims: ‘We could step into Venezuela with six laptops and create not only a functioning society but arguably one with the most advanced government systems in the world’ Continue reading “Article: Overstock founder Patrick Byrne pitches radical transformation of government services via blockchain”
THE DOLLAR HAS NO INTRINSIC VALUE : DO YOUR ASSETS?
