World Equity Group fined.
In June, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that World Equity Group of Arlington Heights, Illinois submitted an acceptance, waiver and consent letter regarding supervisory lapses in its securities business. In agreeing to the AWC, the firm was fined $50,000.
FINRA’s allegations against the firm included that the firm failed to properly implement and maintain a supervisory system designed to detect and prevent unsuitable and excessive trading in stocks. FINRA found that the firm’s supervisory system was not set up to detect “red flags” such as excessive turnover ratios and high cost to equity ratios. The firm also did not properly analyze commissions or utilize exception to prevent and detect excessive trading in customer accounts. As a result of these lapses in oversight the firm did not detect the unsuitable and excessive trading in a customer’s account.
Registration and disciplinary history
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, a firm must either be registered or exempt from registration. World Equity Group is an Illinois corporation formed in 1991 and registered with FINRA, the SEC and in 53 states and territories.
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, World Equity Group has been the subject of eight regulatory investigations.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery. For the past 23 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.
When investors contact our firm they can expect prompt attention, and a detailed analysis of their issues. Typical claims that we are asked to review involve “unsuitability (where a financial advisor makes investment recommendations that are inconsistent with a customer’s investment objectives), claims for “churning” (where a broker enters into an excessive number of trades for the purpose of generating commissions), claims involving illiquid investments such as private placements (I.e., real estate investment trusts, limited partnerships, equipment leasing and oil and gas drilling programs) as well as claims for violations of state securities laws, which often provide investors remedies like attorney’s fees and interest, if they are successful on the claim.
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.