Securities Industry News

A class action has been issued in California alleging San Francisco-based Charles Schwab and Son of not acting in the best interests of investors in a fund. But, strangely, the announcement of the action claims "fraud."

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a Branchburg, N.J.-based investment adviser and three of her firms with operating a multi-million dollar offering fraud involving the sale of phony promissory notes to investors, many of whom are retired or unsophisticated in investments.

Pinnacle, says the SEC, is a "broker dealer based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with more than 99 per cent of its customers residing outside the United States." The bulk of its business, it is said, is to provide direct access. The SEC says it did not do due diligence properly, and failed to follow the systems it had, itself, put in place.

Gosh, it's hard work reading American fraud warnings. If only they would learn to spell "cheque" their warnings would make far more sense, much more immediately.

The following e-mail has all the hallmarks of a classic pump and dump exercise. Readers are recommended to exercise caution. NOTE: is is common for the company targeted by pump and dump fraudsters to be entirely innocent of any wrongdoing.

Australia's ASIC has had a bit of good news: after several months of being battered in various courts and tribunals, the Australian Federal Court has restored ASIC's order banning Shaun Bruce Bond of Wakerley, Queensland from providing financial advice.

Australia's ASIC has taken its first big step in market supervision with the publication of its market integrity rules.

Official notice from New Zealand's Securities Commission dated 16 July 2010

1. The Securities Commission is responsible for enforcing New Zealand's insider trading laws under Part 1 of the Securities Markets Act 1988 ("Act"). This Guidance Note ("Note") sets out the Commission's approach to aspects of the insider trading provisions of the Act as they apply to the trading of commodities futures listed on an authorised futures exchange. By extension this approach will also apply to the full range of futures contracts as defined under section 37 of the Act.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed an enforcement action charging Phillip Milton of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Gregory Center of McLean, Virginia, William Center of Richmond, Virginia, and their company, Trade LLC, based in Palm Spring Gardens, Florida, with operating a ponzi scheme involving approximately USD28 million in connection with the Trade commodity pool.

New Zealand's Securities Commission has laid criminal charges and issued civil proceedings against Dominion Finance Group Limited and North South Finance Limited directors Vance Arkinstall, Richard Bettle, Terence Butler, Ann Butler, Paul Forsyth and Robert Barry Whale.