As Fox Business reports Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin recently announced that Ameriprise Financial Inc., Lincoln National Corp., Commonwealth Financial Corp., Royal Alliance Associates and Securities America will pay a total of $975,000 in fines and $8.6 million in restitution for allegedly improperly selling non-traded REITs.
As the Boston Business Journal also reports, the violations center on a rule in Massachusetts
that permits investors to put no more than an 10% of the investor's liquid net
worth into REITs.
Secretary Galvin reported that an
investigation found significant and widespread problems with the firms'
compliance with their own policies, practices and procedures and adherence with
Massachusetts prospectus requirements, which left some investors locked into illiquid
and underperforming financial products.
In addition to hefty monetary fines, the
settlement also requires each of the firms above to examine the REITs they deal
with to ensure proper sales and investment procedures were followed.
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