The Securities and Exchange Commission charged two unregistered brokers with engaging in fraud in connection with the sales of securities that netted millions of dollars in commissions.
According to the SEC's complaint, Jason Allan Arthur of Henderson, Nev., and and Christopher Joseph Bongiorno of Shaker Heights, Ohio, used aliases to convince the management of two energy and manufacturing companies that they held the requisite securities licenses to engage in investor solicitations. From September 2015 through November 2018, the two allegedly solicited individual investors throughout the United States to invest in the securities of US Lighting Group and Petroteq Energy.
Operating under their aliases, the two used lead lists to cold-call prospective investors and hired others to work under them to solicit investors, according to the SEC’s complaint. In order to obfuscate their receipt of commissions, the two allegedly submitted misleading invoices to the companies, the SEC said.
Mr. Arthur allegedly received commissions totaling $1.17 million, while Mr. Bongiorno allegedly received commissions of $2.36 million.
The rebate is political theater, but the healthcare cost crisis underneath it is very much an advisor problem.
It’s a ruthless competition for advisors right now, with buyers promising top dollar to advisors willing to sell.
Vanilla, SS&C and FinTurk are rolling out a mix of agentic and AI-assisted features aimed at planning gaps, client insights, and manual account monitoring.
David Haughton, formerly of Carson Group and Commonwealth Financial Network, takes on VP of engagement role at Hargrove MSO, a subsidiary of Hargrove Firm.
Retirement plan clients may not grasp what fiduciary duties they keep when joining a PEP.
Northern Trust’s Ken Lassner shows advisors how to convert volatility into after-tax portfolio gains
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income