According to The Southern Florida Business Journal, a Boca Raton brokerage firm, vFinance Investments Inc., was fined $65,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for “conducting a $5.95 million private placement for a company that was on a “restricted list” of firms that should not be dealt with.” In addition, FINRA cited vFinance “for having employees use their personal email accounts to solicit investments and not retaining those records. “
Based on a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, it appears that the private placement at issue in the FINRA sanction is $5million in convertible notes. In 2008, vFinance acted as the private placement agent for Perf Go-Green Holdings (PGOG).
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck Report, vFinance Investments was formed in 1998 and is registered to sell securities in 53 US states and territories. In addition, the BrokerCheck Report revealed that in 2012 vFinance was fined $22,500 for selling corporate bonds at a price that was not fair and was ordered to pay approximately $7,700 plus interest in restitution to customers.
Brokerage firms have a fiduciary duty to their clients to perform adequate due diligence on an investment prior to offering it for sale to its clients. Brokerage Firms that fail to comply with FINRA rules can be liable for investment losses. This information, which is publicly available, has been provided by The White Law Group, LLC.
If you have questions about investments you made with vFinance Investments, Inc. the securities attorneys of The White Law Group may be able to help. To speak with a securities attorney, please 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.
For more information on The White Law Group, please visit our website at http://www.whitesecuritieslaw.
