Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog
FINRA barred Nick Shermeta over his role in penny stock transactions. Criminal charges for aiding and abetting wire fraud are pending as of March, 2017.
Nick Shermeta, a registered representative from Minnetonka, Minnesota, formerly with Northland Securities and Feltl & Company was barred from FINRA membership as a result of SEC proceedings into his role in brokering transactions in Dakota Plains, a company raising money via a private placement of securities. Shermeta engaged in outside business activities aka “selling away”, and arranged for Dakota Plains to pay him commissions for the transactions through a company set up by Shermeta.
According to the SEC, Shermeta acted as an unregistered broker dealer in 2011 by soliciting investors to purchase shares of Dakota Plains. Some of Shermeta’s clients were also clients of his broker dealer at the time.
In October, 2016 the SEC announced a settlement with Shermeta as a result of its investigation into the Dakota Plains transactions. Under the terms of the settlement Shermeta was barred from acting as a registered representative or working selling investments on behalf of a broker dealer.
Nick Shermeta’s registration and disciplinary history
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, one must either be registered or exempt from registration.
Nick Shermeta had been registered with:
Northland Securities from November, 2011 to November, 2016
Feltl & Company from June, 2002 to November, 2011
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, Nick Shermeta has been the subject of two regulatory investigation.
FINRA is the primary regulator for broker dealers and registered representatives in the United States. FINRA’s role is to promulgate standards and practices for the brokerage industry and to ensure compliance with its rules by licensed entities and individuals.
FINRA has two primary means to ensure compliance with the securities laws; by means of an enforcement unit that investigates and disciplines wrongdoing, and through the establishment of an arbitration forum where investors can resolve disputes against broker dealers. FINRA’s arbitration forum, FINRA Dispute Resolution Inc. is the largest arbitration forum in the country for resolving investor disputes, and typically processes over 10,000 filings annually.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery. For the past 24 years, we have dedicated our law practice to assisting investors who have been victims of investment fraud via fraudulent and unsuitable investment transactions. During that time we have recovered money for over one thousand individuals, pension plans, trusts and companies. The recoveries we have obtained via judgments, awards and settlements on behalf of our clients exceed $40,000,000.
If you suspect that you have been the victim of investment fraud, or had a financial advisor recommend unsuitable investments to you, call us today for a free, confidential consultation at (702) 380-3131.