Throughout his career as a broker-dealer, Anthony Gerard Manaia has been fired twice. He’s been the subject of 18 complaints by disgruntled investors, most of whom accused him of putting their money in risky investments without their knowledge. He’s currently under investigation for his role in a scandal around offerings by a medical financing company that a federal agency has accused of misappropriating investor funds.
In July 2010 Manaia gave up his broker-dealer registration. Five months later, in January 2011, he hung out his shingle as an investment adviser. His website targets “high net worth individuals” and says ...
Good investor data are hard to find
In a recent report to Congress, mandated by the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law, the SEC maintained that "because selecting a broker-dealer or investment adviser is one of the most important decisions that investors face, information to help them make this choice should be easy to find, easy to use, and easy to understand."
But if you do a simple google search for the name of your broker or investment adviser and “disciplinary action” or “fine” you are unlikely to come up with much. While the information on broker-dealers and investment advisers is all a matter of public record, you need ...
Continue readingInvestment adviser contributions remain secret
Starting in March 2011, investment advisers who have government clients must keep records of campaign contributions made to elected officials or candidates. But these records are kept secret--buried in internal files, out of the public eye, and available for perusal only by certain government officials.
The new rules were established by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after years of "pay to play" scandals rocked multiple cities and states, in which investment advisers representing large public pension programs used various schemes to funnel campaign contributions to elected officials or candidates. In addition to requiring investment advisers to keep ...
Continue readingOverlooked part of Dodd-Frank law could keep information from the public
Buried in the massive Dodd-Frank financial law is a section that could prevent the public from obtaining records the government collects as part of its new oversight of hedge funds and other private funds managed by investment advisers.
Section 404 remained unchanged when Congress last fall repealed another part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act--section 929I--that had provided a massive exemption from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Congress approved that repeal under tremendous pressure after Fox Business News reported that the SEC had cited the new ...
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