Investor Alerts and Bulletins

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help educate investors regarding the rules that apply to trading securities in cash accounts and to highlight the 90-day account freeze which may arise with certain trading activities in these type of accounts.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is warning investors about potential scams involving stock of companies claiming to be related to, or asserting they are engaging in, Initial Coin Offerings (or ICOs).  Fraudsters often try to use the lure of new and emerging technologies to convince potential victims to invest their money in scams.  These frauds include “pump-and-dump” and market manipulation schemes involving publicly traded companies that claim to provide exposure to these new technologies.

On March 22, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission amended Exchange Act Rule 15c6-1 to shorten the standard settlement cycle for broker-dealers transaction from “T+3” to “T+2,” subject to certain exceptions.  The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) is issuing this investor bulletin to explain the new “T+2” settlement cycle and how it will affect certain transactions you place with your full-service or online brokerage firm.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) and Broker-Dealer Task Force are warning the more than 5 million Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participants, and investors in other federal government employee retirement plans, that investment scam artists may pretend to be affiliated with a government agency.

Developers, businesses, and individuals increasingly are using initial coin offerings, also called ICOs or token sales, to raise capital.  These activities may provide fair and lawful investment opportunities.  However, new technologies and financial products, such as those associated with ICOs, can be used improperly to entice investors with the promise of high returns in a new investment space. The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to make investors aware of potential risks of participating in ICOs.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors with educational information about the basics of retirement investing through 403(b) and 457(b) plans.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help educate investors about the difference between using “stop,” “stop limit” and “trailing stop” orders to buy and sell stocks.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help educate investors about the different types of orders they can use to buy and sell stocks through a brokerage firm. 

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to educate investors about a new investing   opportunity in the form of securities-based crowdfunding.

It can be tricky to tell if a senior has been a victim of investment fraud or to know what to do when it happens. The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help Adult Protective Services (APS) workers and others identify when a senior has been a victim of investment fraud and to explain what APS workers and others can do about it.