SEC Issues Risk Alert on Broker-Dealer Controls Regarding Retail Sales of Structured Securities Products

On August 24, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations’ National Examination Program staff (Staff) released a Risk Alert summarizing findings from an examination of 10 broker-dealers (Firms). The Staff evaluated whether the Firms effectively supervised and monitored the risks and activities associated with sales of structured securities products (SSPs) to retail investors.

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The examinations revealed significant deficiencies in all of the Firms, including that they failed to maintain and enforce adequate controls to determine suitability of SSP recommendations. The Staff noted that the Firms’ written supervisory procedures related to reviews of representatives’ determinations of customer suitability were also deficient and the Staff cited all of the examined Firms for such deficiencies.

Click here to read the Risk Alert.

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ABS Market Veteran Patrick Beranek to Lead Effort for Veteran-Owned Investment Bank

Stamford, CT—July 22, 2015—Mischler Financial Group, Inc., the financial industry’s oldest and largest minority investment bank and institutional brokerage owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans announced that Patrick Beranek, a 20-year industry veteran and most recently the head of Asset-Backed trading for Royal Bank of Scotland (“RBS”) has joined the firm’s capital markets division as Managing Director, Structured Products.

Mr. Beranek previously ran asset-backed trading and syndicate for Mizuho Financial Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Prior to those senior sell-side roles, Mr. Beranek was a portfolio manager for Federal National Home Mortgage Corp (FNMA). In this newly-created role at Mischler Financial, Mr. Beranek will oversee primary market activities of structured products. He will report to Robert Karr, Mischler’s Head of Capital Markets.

In connection with the latest expansion, Mr. Karr stated, “The ABS market has undergone a dynamic reset during the past several years, creating new opportunities. Given current economic drivers, a longer-term interest rate outlook and the demand for quality, non-core fixed income instruments, we’re confident that Pat will prove instrumental in the course of elevating Mischler’s role in the primary market for structured products and help bring compelling opportunities to our institutional investor base.”

Added Dean Chamberlain, CEO of Mischler Financial, “We are very pleased to add Pat to our team. Having worked with him before, I know that he has a unique skill-set that will further bolster our structured finance capabilities.”

About Mischler Financial Group, Inc.

Established in 1994 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California with regional offices in New York City; Stamford, CT; Dallas, TX; Boston, MA: Chicago, IL, Red Bank, NJ; and Detroit, MI. Mischler Financial Group Inc. is a federally-certified SDVBE and the brokerdealer industry’s oldest minority investment bank and institutional brokerage owned and operated by Service-Disabled Veterans. Mischler clients include institutional investment managers, Fortune treasurers, public plan sponsors, endowments and foundations by providing capital markets services and agency-only secondary market execution across the global equities and fixed income markets. The firm also provides asset management for liquid and alternative investment strategies. The firm’s website is located at http://mischlerfinancial.com.

CONTACT: For Additional Information:Dean Chamberlain, Chief Executive Officer, Tel: 203.276.6646

Media Contact: The JLC Group

Email: jay@thejlcgroup.com or Tel: 203.255.0034

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