According to the Investment News, National Securities Corp. is the latest broker-dealer to face disciplinary action from Finra over the sale of private placements gone bust.

According to National Securities’ profile on Finra’s BrokerCheck system, the firm received a Wells notice last month from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. A Wells notice indicates that the regulator intends to bring an enforcement action against an individual or a firm.

National Securities reps sold investors about $3.7 million of notes issued by Provident Royalties LLC, according to the latter’s bankruptcy court filings. The Regulation D offering from Provident involved a series of oil and gas private placements that the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2009 claimed were fraudulent,

National Securities received the Wells notice regarding violations of product suitability rules, e-mail supervision rules, and standards of commercial honor and principles-of-trade rules, according to the BrokerCheck report. The product mentioned in the report was a “private placement.”

Finra officials have made broker-dealers’ sale of private placements that failed during the market collapse their No. 1 enforcement priority this year.

In a meeting of brokerage executives this month in Phoenix, James Shorris, executive vice president and executive director of enforcement with Finra, said Reg D private placements and non-traded real estate investment trusts are listed as the first and second areas of focus for Finra, respectively.

Broker-dealers have begun to feel the pinch. Workman Securities Corp. this month reached an agreement with Finra to pay $700,000 for partial restitution to more than a dozen clients who had sued the firm over investments in Medical Capital Holdings Inc. and Provident Royalties. Like Provident, the SEC charged Medical Capital with fraud in 2009.

If you have questions about investments you made with National Securities, the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help.  For a free consultation, call the firm’s Chicago office at 312-238-9650.

The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Boca Raton, Florida. With over 30 years of securities law experience, including experience working at FINRA (f/k/a the NASD) and the SEC, The White Law Group has the expertise to help investors defrauded in securities, investment and financial business transactions.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://whitesecuritieslaw.com.