We are proud to announce that our firm took top honors for cash donated and number of suits collected in the small firm category of LAWSUITS, a cash and professional clothing drive for local law firms organized by Second Chance and Chaired by San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. Our firm collected 18 suits and other professional clothing and $500 in cash donations which will be made available to graduates of Second Chance’s job readiness training program. The program helps at-risk youth, the homeless, recovering addicts and former prisoners reenter the community and workforce. Thank you to everyone who made our first year in the annual LAWSUITS competition a tremendous success. We plan to up the ante next year! Schedule a free initial consultation by calling Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. toll free at 888-748-8748, or contact us online. 

Investors in UBS Willow Fund, L.L.C. (the “Willow Fund”), which was sponsored and sold by UBS Financial Services, Inc., have begun filing claims to recover significant investment losses allegedly caused by the fund manager’s decision to shift his investment strategy and invest […]

Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C. announces that it has been retained to represent several individuals in connection with the Ponzi scheme fraud allegedly perpetrated by PAUL TABET, his wife,JENIFER TABET and former Oregon politician CRAIG BERKMAN. PAUL TABET and CRAIG BERKMAN purportedly managed venture capital fund VENTURES TRUST II which, they claimed, had […]

March 25, 2013. The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) was founded in 1919 and is one of the oldest investor protection organizations in the country. NASAA routinely publishes a list of its “top investor threats.” For 2013, a rapidly growing, often risky investment […]

FINRA recently issued new guidance to arbitrators further tightening the already limited grounds under which brokers may obtain expungement of customer information from their CRD record. The move follows a recent tide of criticism against FINRA and the SEC for, critics say, looking the other way when member […]

Just over one year ago, FINRA initiated disciplinary proceedings against Charles Schwab & Co. claiming, amongst other things, that the firm violated FINRA rules by requiring customers to sign agreements containing broadly-worded class action waivers. In an unusually long, 48-page written decision issued last […]

December 20, 2012. UBS has agreed to pay a $1.5 billion fine after after regulators in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland alleged the firm had lead a huge conspiracy to artificially inflate the Libor interest rate. In somewhat of a rare move, the […]

Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged James B. Catledge, Derek F.C. Elliott and several related entities with fraud in connection with the sale of unregistered investments in the “Juan Dolio Resort” and another property located in the Dominican Republic. According to […]

A highly contentious and very public lawsuit between Apple and Samsung over Smartphone technology may be moving forward outside of court. The two companies have agreed to hold talks in front of a San Francisco judge on May 21, perhaps the first step in resolving the yearlong dispute over intellectual property. Spanning 10 countries and 50 filings, the dispute arose when Apple initiated a lawsuit claiming that Samsung "slavishly" copied the iPhone and iPad for its Galaxy line of products. Apple asserts that Samsung copied the appearance of Apple technology. Samsung then countersued, alleging that Apple violated Samsung's patents on certain data communications technology. Judge Lucy Koh has ordered the two companies to participate in alternative dispute resolution, and both CEOs and general counsels will be in attendance. Various media outlets have reported the ADR is "semi-voluntary" and will be moderated by Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero, who is otherwise unaffiliated with the case. It is not clear that the talks will immediately end the litigation, but many experts believe that the talks may help to move the litigation forward. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated in last quarter’s report that he would rather settle than pursue litigation, but that "[we] need people to invent their own stuff." Apple has been in various lawsuits since 2010 with companies that use Google's Android operating system. Samsung currently provides Apple with many computer chips and other components for its products. Alternative dispute resolution has gained wide popularity in recent years as companies attempt to limit expensive and time-consuming litigation. ADR uses an unbiased third-party as either a mediator, who facilitates negotiation between the two opposing parties, or as an arbiter, who ultimately resolves the issue after each side has presented arguments. The mediation between Apple and Samsung regarding their intellectual property is non-binding and…

In early September 2012, the SEC initiated formal cease and desist proceedings against San Diego-based financial advisor Raymond J. Lucia, Sr. and his company, Raymond J. Lucia Companies, Inc. According to the SEC, Lucia mislead investors by claiming his proprietary “Buckets of […]

In the spring of 2012, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney began rolling out its new “3D” trading platform. Since its debut, the system has been widely criticized by brokers as being plagued by bugs, design flaws and glitches. While intended to be […]

In late August, Merrill Lynch agreed to a proposed $40 million class action settlement to settle claims the firm refused to pay deferred compensation owed to its brokers after its 2008 merger with Bank of America. The case, which involves a class […]

June 20, 2012. Shustak Reynolds & Partners, P.C., announces that it obtained a FINRA Panel award of $5 million dollars for a team of two San Diego based financial advisors who were recruited by Morgan Stanley and falsely induced to leave their positions at UBS in […]

The firm announces that it obtained a $486,615.77 FINRA arbitration award against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (“MSSB”), Citigroup Global Markets Holdings, Inc. and Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (“Citigroup”) on behalf of a financial advisor formerly employed by Citigroup’s Smith Barney division (“Smith […]

The firm announces that it obtained a $622,000.00 FINRA arbitration award against Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC (“Fidelity”) on behalf of an 86 year old investor who had opened a joint account at a San Diego Fidelity office. The amount awarded the firm’s […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently re-vamped its online BrokerCheck portal to help users more easily access disclosure information concerning investment advisers. Where the old system only displayed BrokerCheck reports, the new system, where applicable, also displays the Investment Adviser Public […]

the SEC filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Absolute Fund Advisors, LLC, Absolute Fund Management, LLC and Jason J. Konior seeking an injunction preventing the defendants from operating a “Ponzi-like” scheme […]

I recently attended a professional CFO roundtable as a subject matter expert on Obamacare compliance issues for employers. It was an excellent discussion which included CFO’s from firms ranging in size from less than 50 to more than 250 employees. Coming out of the CFO roundtable, the biggest challenge centers around tracking employees with precision so as to ensure the employer avoids the excise taxes (penalties) under IRC § 4980H. Several participants echoed this sentiment saying: “It’s not practical for us to even know how many employees we have at any given moment right now. How am I supposed to make sure I’ve offered coverage to everyone I am supposed to?” What’s clear is that working to comply with Obamacare’s Employer Shared Responsibility provisions, and the Notice and Reporting provisions, will require a significant change in how Applicable Large Employers’ HR, Finance, and Legal Departments interact with one another. Behind Obamacare’s requirements lie employers’ continuing responsibilities under ERISA, HIPPA and state labor laws. Organizations that don’t formulate their Obamacare compliance systems with those other rules in mind can build significant amounts of risk into their business. Many businesses seemed to be still in the first stages of figuring out how to work Affordable Care Act compliance into their organizations. Other organizations have already decided it’s impractical to work compliance in-house and plan to outsource the tasks to third-parties. News reporters like to highlight those employers looking at “manipulating hours” (i.e. reducing or controlling hours to control employees’ entitlement to employer-sponsored health insurance). However this strategy poses a lot of risks and must be executed almost flawlessly to obtain its benefits. Employers manipulating hours run the risks of incurring overtime (for those employees picking up the slack), or worse yet, the risk of exempt employees becoming non-exempt under state wage &…

In early February, FINRA initiated disciplinary proceedings against Charles Schwab & Co. claiming the firm violated FINRA rules by requiring its customers to sign account documents containing broad “class action waivers.” FINRA claims Schwab amended its customer agreements in October 2011 […]

These are the Top Ten Unsuitable Securities Investments to Watch Out For during 2012, as compiled by FINRA. For most investors, these investments may be unsuitable; complex; very risky and not easily understood: 1. Private Placements- Risks- highly illiquid; minimal disclosure; […]