Tim O'Connor's Blog

Equity-Indexed Annuities are complex financial instruments that have characteristics of both fixed and variable annuities.  The return earned by investors on equity-indexed annuities can fluctuate –  returns are not fixed or guaranteed and thusly carry more risk than a fixed annuity.  Many investors are not clearly made aware of this fact at time of purchase. […]

The Investor Protection Bureau of the State of New York is a division of the New York State Attorney General’s Office.  This Bureau is charged with enforcing the Martin Act, New York State’s statutory securities laws.   The Martin Act empowers the New York State Attorney General’s Office to investigate suspected fraudulent activities in the […]

In a recent decision of the FINRA Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Andrey V. Tkatchenko was fined $10,000.00 and given a 15-day business suspension for marking trade tickets and trade confirmation relating to stock purchase transactions as being unsolicited, when in fact they were solicited.   FINRA Rule 3110(a) requires that FINRA member firms “make and preserve […]

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company agreed to pay forty million dollars to settle a multi-state probe of its alleged mishandling of insurance policy death benefits.  The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303592404577361983469311186.html) reports that the deal could lead to more than four hundred million dollars in payments to the heirs of certain life insurance policyholders, who were allegedly […]

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the self-regulatory entity responsible for the administration of examinations for stockbrokers and financial advisors, maintains its BrokerCheck website at http://www.finra.org/Investors/ToolsCalculators/BrokerCheck/.  This website can be used to easily access readily-available information about your stockbroker.  This information includes the examinations they have successfully completed, how long they have been Registered Representatives […]