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FINRA Sees Spike in ‘Investment Group’ Frauds on Social Media

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says it’s seeing a “significant spike” in investor complaints of recommendations made by fraudulent “investment groups” promoted through social media channels. Complaints received by FINRA and posted on social media “describe bad actors, posing as registered investment advisers, who initially advertise ‘stock investment groups’ on Instagram and other social media channels and then turn to encrypted group chats on WhatsApp to communicate with interested investors and pitch investments.” Since November, FINRA said that it has received “nearly a dozen investor complaints regarding this threat, alleging millions of dollars in total losses.” As with other broker imposter scams, FINRA states that “the bad actors might falsely portray themselves as registered professionals, in some recent cases fraudulently claiming affiliation with well-known public figures and others in the investment industry — people who are not involved in the scheme.” The scammers, FINRA states, “also create fake personas by taking the name and other publicly available details about a registered investment professional with a spotless disciplinary history. They then misuse this information to establish legitimacy, unbeknownst to the actual investment professional being impersonated.” Scammers, according to FINRA, “start out by promoting investment in a well-known, actively traded stock and then,...

CBN Announces Newest Member 0

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CBN Announces Newest Member

CBN Announces 2024 Membership Expansion with Addition of its Newest Member Toronto, ON (Jan. 10, 2024) – Canadian Broker Network (CBN), Canada’s leading network of independent insurance brokers, is pleased to announce its 2024 membership expansion. To our CBN member community, we welcome our newest addition: Keyes Insurance (Halifax, NS). As new members in our network, they keep the freedom of operating on their own but add the power and potential from their CBN peers, their new strategic partners. “We are excited they chose CBN and have joined our expanding CBN community”, says Andrew Kemp, Chairman of CBN. The Canadian Broker Network is continuing with its growth plans. “If you’re an independent broker looking for a competitive advantage and industry scale and you meet our membership criteria, we’d like to hear from you. Please contact us to learn more about CBN and how we support our members as the Voice of Independent Brokers”, says Lorie Phair, President of CBN. About the Canadian Broker Network Canadian Broker Network (CBN) is an alliance of leading independent insurance brokerages representing more than $2.5 billion in property casualty premiums, as well as employee benefits and life and financial services, with over 100 offices across...

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Avalanche Killed 1, Injured 3 at Popular California Ski Resort

Article 0 Comments An avalanche roared through a section of expert trails at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, sweeping up four people and killing one, as a major storm with snow and gusty winds moved into the region, authorities said. The avalanche occurred about 9:30 a.m. and prompted Palisades Tahoe to close as search crews combed the area under the K-22 lift, which 30 minutes earlier had opened for the first time this season. It serves “black diamond” runs for skilled skiers and snowboarders. Skier Mark Sponsler said he arrived at the KT-22 lift amid howling winds and white-out conditions to find it shut down. Unbeknownst to him, the avalanche had just hit. He spoke to someone who was in the second group to ride up the lift that morning. That person was in the lift and watched the disaster from above, said Sponsler, a veteran weather forecaster and founder of stormsurf.com. “There was screaming, there were skis and poles and a hand sticking up out of the snow,” Sponsler said the witness told him. The avalanche debris field spanned about 150 feet wide, 450 feet long and 10 feet deep, the sheriff’s office said. “This...

2024 And Beyond: Change Becomes Non-Negotiable 0

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2024 And Beyond: Change Becomes Non-Negotiable

by Stephen Applebaum and Alan Demers — We cannot imagine a riskier undertaking than predicting the future given the totally unforeseeable events of recent years, the current state of the insurance industry and the world in general. On the other hand, there are some basic principles that help guide us through the exercise. In addition, we have hedged our prediction by widening our guidance to not just 2024 but also to the near future. Change Becomes a Constant The one thing we can count on is that very few of yesterday’s approaches will be successful in tomorrow’s world. As they say, the only constant now is change. It has become non-negotiable. Technology, especially AI, will be a major driver. Insurers Breaks Out of its Bubble Insurers cannot continue to operate in a bubble. Other segments of financial services and industries have already realized that diversification, partnerships, and bold innovation are critical to success – and perhaps even survival. This is especially evident in bottom line under-performance of P&C insurers. Technology Moves Beyond Enabler It has become clear that technology is much more than just an enabler but rather is quickly becoming the life blood of all commercial undertakings. Those who...

Crawford Technologies Announces High-speed Document Language Translation Service 0

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Crawford Technologies Announces High-speed Document Language Translation Service

Toronto, ON (Jan. 3, 2024) – Crawford Technologies, a leading provider of innovative document solutions that streamline, improve and manage customer communications, is pleased to announce AccessibilityNow® Translate as part of its AccessibilityNow® platform. Being launched on the heels of Instant Language Assistant (ILA), the company’s accessible communication device introduced last month, AccessibilityNow Translate is Crawford Technologies’ second language translation solution designed to ensure that all individuals, regardless of language used, have access to vital information. AccessibilityNow Translate was developed to meet the needs of organizations required to comply with the 2023 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Final Rule. The mandate has set new standards for inclusivity, accessibility and equality by mandating healthcare companies deliver communications to customers in their native language where local densities exceed 5%. Addressing the requirement for organizations to remove language barriers and strengthen language access, AccessibilityNow Translate offers an enterprise communication processing (ECP) service that uses AI to translate transactional and marketing documents into over 120 native languages with very little setup required. The solution’s ability to quickly translate high volumes of documents containing PHI and PII for mail or electronic delivery makes it possible for businesses servicing customers with limited English proficiency...

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Aging Population Could be Left on the Coast as Sea Levels Rise, Study Shows

Article 0 Comments As sea levels rise in coming years, younger people will move inland, while aging populations will be stuck with the growing risk in coastal areas, a Florida State University professor and researchers have concluded. “Older populations are the least likely to migrate, and climate migration could accelerate population aging in origin areas,” reads the abstract of the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research also found that destination communities, where younger people will be moving, will need more services as populations rise, including construction, medical and other services, Associate Professor of Sociology Matt Hauer said, according to FSU and News Wise. Hauer’s research has examined the demographic impact of climate change for the past several years. The latest study looked strictly at sea-level rise. “As the percentage of the population lost due to climate migration increases, the median age also increases—up to 10+ years older in some highly impacted coastal counties,” the study notes. Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit...

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Morgan Stanley to Pay $249M to End Block Trade Probes

Passi’s attorney, George Canellos, said he was pleased the government didn’t pursue a criminal conviction of his client. “The settlements allow Mr. Passi and his family to move past two very difficult years of intense government scrutiny of the block trading practices on Wall Street,” he said. Block trading is one of a few Wall Street trading activities in which relationships still drive the flow of deals, and Morgan Stanley has dominated that business. Its success has also prompted some envy, and suspicion, from rivals who whispered about its practices. While the SEC began scrutinizing the activity in 2018, the first signs of a more serious probe, from prosecutors, emerged when Passi was put on leave in November 2021. Passi, who joined the firm in 2004, had risen to become the head of its US equity syndicate desk. That meant he led the bank’s communications with investors for equity transactions. In the following months, the feds picked apart Morgan Stanley’s relations across the street, scooping up communications and searching for patterns as they set about looking for signs of market manipulation. Investigators’ inquiries showed a hunt for signs, if any, that money managers placed well-timed bets before block trades that...

South Western Insurance Group acquires A.M. Fredericks Underwriting Management 0

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South Western Insurance Group acquires A.M. Fredericks Underwriting Management

Toronto, ON (Jan. 8, 2024) – South Western Insurance Group Ltd. (SWIG) has acquired A.M. Fredericks Underwriting Management Ltd. (AMFUM). This alignment will expand each business’s potential for growth and a pathway for continued success. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This year will mark 50 years in the insurance business for Tony Fredericks, who founded AMFUM 30 years ago. Upon the close of the transaction, Tony will be retiring from the MGU space after 35 years. John A. Barclay, President and C.E.O. of SWG Group Holdings expressed, “We are honoured that Tony has entrusted us with the legacy of what he and his family built. AMFUM and SWIG are very complementary. AMFUM will bring a broad risk appetite and placement solution to our Group, and further expand our ability to solve the placement needs of our brokers.” With Tony retiring from the business, SWIG’s Chief Underwriting Officer, Ghazal Hamid has been appointed President of AMFUM. “We are excited to see Ghazal leverage his experience with SWIG and lead the business forward,” Barclay says. About South Western Insurance Group Limited South Western Group Limited is a Managing General Agent offering a broad range of insurance solutions for specialty, niche,...

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Atria Wealth Boosts Assets by $12B

Through these partnerships, financial institutions “gain access to a robust suite of products and solutions tailored to their unique needs,” according to Kevin Mummau, co-head of Atria’s Financial Institution business. “Our blend of technology, intellectual expertise and product solutions, coupled with unparalleled execution, ensures the highest level of service and support.” Atria’s new credit union partners as of 2023 are: Allegent Community Federal, Bank of Hawaii, BlueOx, Capital, Clearview Federal, Harvard University Employees, I.L.W.U. Federal, Kemba, Rave Financial (formerly Mobiloil), North Central Area, Northern, One, Polish & Slavic Federal, Vermont State Employees, We Florida Financial and West-Aircomm Federal. Credit union partnerships renewed last year include: Coastal Federal, Cornerstone Community Financial, Credit Human Federal, Firefighters First Federal, First Commonwealth Federal, Grow Financial Federal, HawaiiUSA Federal, Navy Federal, NE PA Community Federal, New England Federal, Selco Community, Skyla, University of Kentucky Federal and Water and Power Community. CUSO and Sorrento also renewed arrangements with Dedham Savings and Thumb Bank & Trust in 2023. Pictured: Brian Bichler

Blizzard Knocked out Power and Closed Highways and Ski Resorts in Oregon and Washington 0

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Blizzard Knocked out Power and Closed Highways and Ski Resorts in Oregon and Washington

Article 0 Comments A blizzard pounded mountainous areas of Oregon and Washington on Tuesday, knocking out power and prompting the closure of highways and ski resorts. The Washington Department of Transportation closed two mountain passes: U.S. Route 2, which goes through Stevens Pass, and U.S. Route 97, which goes through Blewett Pass. The department cited high winds and poor visibility for both closures. Blewett also had fallen trees while Stevens had heavy snow. The Stevens Pass ski resort in Washington posted on its blog that it got 19 inches of new snow before opening Tuesday. It closed the back side of the ski area due to snow safety concerns and plans to reopen the section when conditions allow. The largest utility in Washington state said more than 150,000 customers lost power since the start of the storm. Oregon ski resorts Mount Hood Meadows, Timberline Lodge and Skibowl all shut down their lifts, KGW-TV reported. Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Washington Oregon Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found...