B-Ds: 2010 In Review
Roughly one in five broker-dealers that sold the private placements issued by Provident Royalties LLC have either gone bust or are no longer sanctioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. to conduct securities transactions, bankruptcy court filings indicate. A complaint filed by the Provident liquidating trustee against 49 broker-dealers alleges that they “failed miserably in upholding their fiduciary obligations” when selling the Reg D deals. The 10 banished firms, plus one that was acquired, sold $56.7 million of Provident offerings, according to the suit, which lists 61 firms.
American Portfolio Financial Services Inc. announces the hiring of Joseph B. “Joby” Gruber as president of national sales and marketing. The former CEO of FSC Securities had been out of the industry since 2007, when he was forced to resign after Finra accused him of allowing an underling to take continuing-education exams in his name.