Finfluencers Going to Jail, Goldman’s CEO Can Cut a Groove – The Heat is On for Bizarre Industry News
While basking in the springtime Phoenix sun, the view of rocks roasting in desert heat naturally led my mind to the apocalypse – no matter how it starts, it ends in a scorched desert. And yes, it’s coming. Humanity’s advancement is illusory – civilization circles the drain.
“How do you know?” the inquisitive may ask. Once you finish this article, you will know with every fiber of your being that the collapse began already – without the comet or solar flare.
How about an advisor that stole millions in client assets to buy apartments, flashy cars and – yes – school tuition for his girlfriends?
What if you quit your job and your former firm told your clients that you died? Or the CEO of a global bank regularly performs as a DJ – And a not very good DJ, at that?
And social media influencers are finally banned from giving financial advice – but just in Australia. Plus, Taylor Swift didn’t really support the charity that could make 20% profit in 90 days.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel 22 anymore. The world has aged along with me. Too many stories fit this column, and we’ve hit a tipping point as a civilization.
Cue the damn comet, already!
1) Australian influencers may now face jail time for offering ‘unlicensed’ financial advice
“Australia’s government is cracking down on ‘finfluencers.’
“The term, a combination of ‘finance’ and ‘influencers,’ describes social media users who dish out budgeting or investing tips online. Now, those users could face up to five years in jail if they offer ‘unlicensed’ advice.”
“Under Australia’s new guidelines, finfluencers are still able to explain general financial concepts … But recommending specific stocks, which is a content staple for many ‘finfluencers,’ is now considered a violation.”
Does the thought of social media influencers going to jail trouble you or delight you? If you said, “Lock them up and throw away the key!” then you answered correctly.
A license is a license (or “licenCe” in the Aussie tongue) and you need one to give financial advice in Australia – no finfluencer exceptions!
Aussies – if American influencers are sending unlicenCed videos into your country … just consider doing the world a service. We’ll pay for the extradition.
To read the full article by Dillon Thompson of IN THE KNOW please click here.
2) Goldman CEO David Solomon’s DJ skills panned ahead of Lollapalooza set
“Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon landed a performance slot along music megastars at this summer Lollapalooza festival — despite what professionals reportedly described as middling skills as a DJ.
“Solomon, who regularly performs as DJ D-Sol, will appear during the festival’s run from July 28-31 at Chicago’s Grant Park. Attendees will plunk down anywhere from $350 to more than $4,000 to see Solomon alongside well-known acts such as Dua Lipa and Machine Gun Kelly.”
“‘As a subscriber to the Giant Vampire Squid view of Goldman Sachs I find Lollapalooza’s booking of him an ironic [elitist] gesture in poor taste,’ said Matt Black, a member of the English EDM duo Coldcut …”
Such a pity that the lavish ticket price of Lollapalooza will include mediocre acts like a “vampire squid” sullying the perfect performances of talented artists like Machine Gun Kelly, who no doubt derives his skills from the ritual drinking of fiancée Megan Fox’s blood.
So who’s the vampire?
When you go to Lollapalooza, check out Solomon’s act. Goldman is cool, kids.
To read the full article by Thomas Barrabi of The New York Post please click here.
3) Ex-UBS Rep Who Spent Client Money on Girlfriends’ Gifts Pleads Guilty
“An ex-UBS broker has pleaded guilty to defrauding a family out of $5.8 million, most of which he spent on gifts for girlfriends … The gifts included private school tuition, luxury cars and an apartment in Colombia …”
“According to the SEC’s complaint, Nino stole the investment funds over nearly a six-year period and spent about $4.6 million of it on ‘several women with whom he had romantic relationships.’”
What’s more disturbing – a client who only notices theft after $5.8 million vanished, a sugar daddy who stole the sugar or the fact that he spent that money on school tuition?
All of it. So if your boyfriend bought you a Bentley and a penthouse with stolen money, can you keep them when he goes to jail?
To read the full article by Jeff Berman of ThinkAdvisor please click here.
4) Ex-LPL rep who touted fake Taylor Swift charity hit with felony charges
“A barred former LPL Financial advisor who claimed to be managing the finances of a charitable project in Africa on behalf of Taylor Swift is now facing Class A felony theft charges.
“Dain F. Stokes promised at least one client 20% returns within 90 days of the investment while sending text messages saying he ‘just had a long talk with Taylor about it in the middle of the night lol’ and that ‘Taylor asked me to personally ask you, lol, she likes you!,’ according to an earlier consent order from the New Hampshire Bureau of Securities Regulation.”
“[Stokes’] Twitter profile describes him as a ‘writer poet guitarist singer politician intelligence’ and displays a picture of a cross symbol associated with the Knights Templar.”
Dain Stokes has blank space, baby, and he’ll write your name. How could anyone refuse to donate to an overseas project when Taylor Swift likes you? No red flags here – or just one red flag – bearing a cross of the Knights Templar.
If Taylor Swift doesn’t like you, just shake it off.
It’s time to search the social media profiles and Templar Knights affiliations of all the trustworthy people holding your money.
To read the full article by Tobias Salinger of Financial Planning please click here.
5) A Grave Mistake: Wells Fargo Prematurely Buries a Breakaway Broker
“Financial advisor Robert Brian Watson is alive and well practicing from his independent brokerage office in Atlanta. But his former firm, Wells Fargo Advisors, has told clients he is dead.
“Watson left Wells Fargo to join an independent broker-dealer on April 7, and Wells five days later sent a letter to his former clients eulogizing him as it introduced them to their new Wells advisor.”
“Marc Dobin, a securities lawyer in Jupiter, Florida … said he would ask Wells to quickly send a letter by priority mail notifying customers of the mistake and providing the broker’s contact information at their new firm. The broker may be able to show damages if the firm did not correct the issue promptly, Dobin said.”
Mark Twain once said, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” So it is with Robert Watson, who confirmed that he indeed did not die despite the morbid announcement, which he also received as a client of Wells Fargo.
Watson could convert the creepy letter into pocket cash by suing the bank, because announcing an advisor’s “death” may cause clients to switch to a different advisor – a breathing one. Wells Fargo is no stranger to lawsuits, as WSR readers will remember from the “fat pig” fiasco.
To read the full article by Mason Braswell of AdvisorHub please click here.
James Miller, Contributing Editor & Research Analyst at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at ContributingEd@wealthsolutionsreport.com
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