Financial exploitation of older Americans is a growing problem, and the consequences can be devastating. A senior investor may spend decades building retirement savings only to lose a substantial portion of those assets in just weeks or months. The perpetrator may be a stranger running an investment scam, a caregiver, family member, new acquaintance, or even a trusted financial professional. Elder financial abuse can involve suspicious withdrawals, unauthorized transfers, investment fraud, or manipulation of a vulnerable investor. It could also involve a financial adviser ignoring an investor’s risk profile to “churn” their account to maximize the adviser’s own compensation. When money disappears from a brokerage account, an important question often follows: Could the brokerage firm have stopped it? The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) regulates U.S. broker-dealers and has established rules to help brokerage firms identify and respond to suspected financial exploitation. Those protections, and their limitations, can become important when determining whether the conduct of a broker, financial adviser, or brokerage firm warrants investigation. What Is Elder Financial Exploitation? FINRA Rule 2165 generally defines financial exploitation to include the wrongful or unauthorized taking or use of a protected person’s funds or securities. The definition also covers obtaining control of assets through deception, intimidation, or undue influence. The rule generally protects investors age 65 and older. It can also cover certain younger adults when a brokerage firm reasonably believes an impairment prevents the investor from adequately protecting their own interests. Warning signs of possible elder financial abuse may include: sudden or unusually large withdrawals; transfers to unfamiliar third parties; unexplained liquidation of long-held investments; abrupt changes in investment strategy; a new person trying to control communications with the financial adviser; an investor appearing confused about transactions; or transactions inconsistent with the investor’s financial circumstances or history. An unusual transaction does…

On July 24, 2026, Jay Lucas, the 71-year-old founder and managing partner of Lucas Brand Equity LLC, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lucas admitted to orchestrating a years-long investment fraud scheme that raised more than $50 million from investors through false representations about how their money would be invested. Federal prosecutors said Lucas told investors their funds would be invested in early-stage health and wellness companies. Instead, according to the Department of Justice, he diverted much of the money to cover personal expenses, promote unrelated ventures, and make Ponzi-like payments to earlier investors. As part of his fundraising efforts, Lucas represented that the firm’s “core strategy is to invest in these small to mid-size emerging brands, provide value added services to differentiate them and catalyze growth to a sufficient scale for exit.” Prosecutors also said Lucas operated the firm alongside three private investment funds bearing his name and falsely claimed to have co-founded a well-known private equity firm—a claim that ultimately prompted counsel for the actual firm to send him a cease-and-desist demand. According to the Department of Justice, Lucas began misappropriating investor funds in 2017, using investor money to pay alimony, rent, costs related to a “vanity newspaper project” in his hometown, political consultants, and other personal expenses. The government’s case was further supported by internal communications in which Lucas’s own employees described his spending as “not spending on LBE,” “literally fraudulent,” and “a huge betrayal of investor trust and most likely illegal.” The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a parallel civil enforcement action alleging that Lucas and Lucas Brand Equity defrauded hundreds of investors who invested more than $50 million in…

Shustak, Reynolds & Partners, P.C. secured a $650,000 settlement for a former NFL player client whose indexed universal life insurance investment had been wiped out when his policy lapsed for non-payment of premiums. Attorneys Erwin J. Shustak and Joseph M. Mellano handled the matter and obtained the full settlement in a matter of months, without filing suit. The result speaks to the value of a well-developed claim, pressed efficiently and strategically before a case is ever docketed. At the center of the dispute was an indexed universal life (“IUL”) insurance policy—a complex product that combines a death benefit with a cash value component whose returns are tied to the performance of external market indexes, such as the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, and EURO STOXX 50. An IUL policy does not directly invest in stocks, bonds, or equities; instead, the insurer credits interest based on index movements, subject to insurer-adjusted caps and participation rates that limit the upside. These policies carry substantial risks and high costs, including cost-of-insurance charges and surrender charges that can erode cash value over time, and their performance is never guaranteed. Because they generate large upfront commissions, often 50-90% of the first premium—IUL products give agents strong incentives to market them over simpler, cheaper, and often more suitable alternatives. The firm’s client was sold the IUL policy as a straightforward, “set-it-and-forget-it” investment: he was told a one-time payment of $300,000 would grow to $11.5 million over 40 years while providing life insurance coverage. The policy, however,  required ongoing annual funding, and the insurer had structured it so that cash value returns were expected to cover the premiums—facts never disclosed to the client. When market performance fell short and the cash value could not carry the policy, it quietly lapsed for lack of funding, and the client’s entire investment…

Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. recently secured a decisive arbitration victory on behalf of a firm client in a high-stakes dispute against his brother and two affiliated entities. The dispute centered on the respondents’ management and eventual divestiture of a large portfolio of non-performing mortgage loans, in which the firm’s client  held substantial fractional ownership interests acquired over more than a decade of investment. For our client, we asserted claims for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and breach of fiduciary duty, contending respondents sold his loan interests without his knowledge or consent and, in certain instances, to entities secretly controlled by the individual Respondent. After Shustak Reynolds successfully petitioned the San Diego County Superior Court to compel arbitration, the matter proceeded to a three-day evidentiary hearing before a JAMS arbitrator in San Diego, California. Partner Paul Reynolds was hearing counsel throughout the arbitration, from the initial petition to compel arbitration through the multi-day evidentiary hearing and the extensive post-hearing motion practice that followed the arbitrator’s Interim Award. Mr. Reynolds built the case around a sophisticated theory distinguishing the contractual concept of loan “servicing” from the act of “selling” loan assets, supported by expert testimony on industry custom and practice, and he pressed this theory with the precision necessary to expose the respondents’ clandestine self-dealing scheme. Notably, the arbitrator specifically credited the reasonableness and efficiency of Shustak Reynolds’ case presentation, remarking  the matter was tried with the kind of careful preparation that made an otherwise complex, multi-claim dispute manageable within a compressed hearing schedule. The arbitrator’s Final Award reflects an outcome of significant magnitude and strategic success. The arbitrator found Respondents had breached their fiduciary duties to the firm’s client  through a scheme of self-dealing, and awarded him $2,852,829.00 in compensatory damages,…

Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. served as counsel to plaintiffs Neem International CV and ALJ Holdings, Ltd. in Neem International CV, et al. v. Vadim Shulman, et al., C.A. No. 2022-0187-LWW, a corporate governance and breach of fiduciary duty action decided by the Delaware Court of Chancery on December 31, 2025. The plaintiffs, two Series E-1 preferred stockholders of Pathway Genomics Corporation, a San Diego-based genetic testing company, brought direct and derivative claims against Vadim Shulman, a controlling stockholder and de facto director who seized control of the company's board and stripped Pathway of its assets to the detriment of its preferred stockholders. The litigation arose from Shulman's unauthorized extension of millions of dollars in convertible notes to the company, his direction that officers pledge substantially all of Pathway's assets as collateral without board approval, and his acquisition of those assets through a foreclosure sale in which he was the sole bidder. Partner Paul A. Reynolds led the plaintiffs' litigation strategy throughout this multi-year Delaware Chancery Court action, serving alongside Delaware co-counsel from Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP and Wilks Law, LLC. The case proceeded through a five-day trial with sixteen fact and expert witnesses and a record of more than 500 joint exhibits and seventeen deposition transcripts, followed by post-trial briefing, oral argument, and supplemental submissions the Vice Chancellor requested on the authorization of the challenged notes and security agreements. Facing a threshold standing challenge arising from Pathway's void corporate status and thirteen counts spanning derivative and direct theories, Mr. Reynolds concentrated the trial presentation on the plaintiffs' direct claim for breach of their liquidation preference rights, a strategic focus that proved decisive once the derivative counts fell away, and he overcame defenses invoking board independence and the commercial reasonableness of the foreclosure process to secure a finding…

The FINRA arbitration forum remains the primary venue for resolving disputes between investors and the broker-dealers and investment advisers who serve them. Over the past twelve months, the forum has produced several landmark awards that captured the attention of the financial services industry, while simultaneously launching the most comprehensive review of its arbitration rules in decades. For broker-dealers and investment advisers navigating this environment, understanding the current state of play is essential to managing risk, evaluating litigation exposure, and preparing for a regulatory landscape that may look markedly different by the end of 2027.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent review of the investment adviser registration threshold could have significant consequences for thousands of registered investment advisers (“RIAs”). If the SEC ultimately raises the assets-under-management (“AUM”) threshold required for federal registration, many advisers currently registered with the SEC could be required to withdraw their federal registrations and return to state regulation.

For nearly a decade, the Supreme Court has steadily reshaped the Securities and Exchange Commission's authority to seek disgorgement. Beginning with Kokesh v. SEC, 581 U.S. 455 (2017) and continuing through Liu v. SEC, 591 U.S. 71 (2020), the Court imposed meaningful limits on a remedy that had become a central feature of SEC enforcement. Many expected the Court to continue narrowing disgorgement in Sripetch v. SEC, 608 U.S. ___, No. 25-466, slip op. at 13 (June 4, 2026). Instead, the Court unanimously preserved one of the SEC's most important enforcement tools.

Financial exploitation of older Americans has become one of the most serious investor-protection problems in the United States. Criminals increasingly target retirement accounts, brokerage accounts, mutual fund holdings, bank accounts, annuities, trust assets, and other accumulated savings using fraud, coercion, social engineering, impersonation, artificial intelligence, romance scams, cryptocurrency schemes, and abuse of positions of trust.

You open your mailbox and find an envelope from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Inside is a subpoena directing you to appear for sworn testimony. Your heart races. What does this mean? Are you in trouble? What should you do next? If you are an individual investor, a financial advisor, or any financial professional who has received a notice from the SEC, you are not alone. SEC investigations touch thousands of people each year, including many who are witnesses rather than targets. This blog post explains what to expect during an SEC on-the-record testimony or deposition and offers practical tips to help you prepare for your appearance.

The FINRA arbitration forum remains the primary venue for resolving disputes between investors and the broker-dealers and investment advisers who serve them. Over the past twelve months, the forum has produced several landmark awards that captured the attention of the financial services industry, while simultaneously launching the most comprehensive review of its arbitration rules in decades. For broker-dealers and investment advisers navigating this environment, understanding the current state of play is essential to managing risk, evaluating litigation exposure, and preparing for a regulatory landscape that may look markedly different by the end of 2027.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) remains the world's leading institution for the administration of international commercial arbitrations. On June 1, 2026, the ICC's revised Arbitration Rules took effect. While many of the revisions codify practices that had already developed in ICC proceedings, several changes are significant and will affect the strategy, cost, and efficiency of future arbitrations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent review of the investment adviser registration threshold could have significant consequences for thousands of registered investment advisers (“RIAs”). If the SEC ultimately raises the assets-under-management (“AUM”) threshold required for federal registration, many advisers currently registered with the SEC could be required to withdraw their federal registrations and return to state regulation.

Regulatory inquiries from FINRA, the SEC, the DFPI, or the California Department of Insurance often raise an uncomfortable question for financial-services firms and their personnel: who pays for the employee’s lawyer? Under California Labor Code section 2802, employers must indemnify employees for necessary expenses incurred as a direct consequence of performing their job duties. In Grissom v. Vons Companies, Inc., the California Court of Appeal held that this obligation can include reimbursement of attorney’s fees incurred by an employee who reasonably retains independent counsel in connection with matters arising from the course and scope of employment.

Social media has become a major source of investment information. Investors now encounter stock tips, options strategies, crypto promotions, private placements, alternative investment products, and claims about financial markets on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp, X, and other platforms. While some of this content educates investors, much of it does not. When online personalities promote securities, exaggerate returns, hide compensation, impersonate registered professionals, or pressure investors into risky trades, social media content can become investment fraud, securities fraud, or market manipulation.

Artificial intelligence (“AI”) has rapidly become part of everyday life. Millions of people now use AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and similar programs to draft emails, summarize documents, answer questions, conduct research, and create written content. Businesses are using AI to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and automate tasks that previously required significant human involvement.

A Rule 8210 letter from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, is not ordinary correspondence. For financial advisors, registered representatives, supervisors, broker-dealer executives, and other financial professionals, it is often the first formal sign that FINRA is examining conduct, communications, customer account activity, disclosures, sales practices, outside business activities, private securities transactions, or other potential compliance or regulatory issues. In some matters, the recipient is only a witness. In others, the recipient is the focus of the investigation. Either way, an 8210 request deserves immediate attention.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a back-office tool in financial services. It is now embedded directly in how retail investors—particularly self-directed clients—research, evaluate, and execute investment decisions. For broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, and registered representatives, this shift is not merely technological. It is creating a new and evolving layer of regulatory exposure, litigation risk, and supervisory complexity.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a back-office tool in financial services. It is now embedded directly in how retail investors—particularly self-directed clients—research, evaluate, and execute investment decisions. For broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, and registered representatives, this shift is not merely technological. It is creating a new and evolving layer of regulatory exposure, litigation risk, and supervisory complexity.

Customer arbitration is one of the most common forums for resolving disputes between financial institutions and their clients. For broker-dealers and registered representatives in particular, FINRA arbitration serves as the primary venue for claims involving alleged misconduct, unsuitable investment recommendations, and supervisory failures. Although arbitration is often faster and less formal than court litigation, it does not carry lower risk. Certain missteps during the customer relationship, or during the arbitration itself, can significantly increase liability exposure.