Massachusetts Securities Division

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  FINRA: BDs Have a Failure to Communicate on Nontraded REITs

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  May 6, 2013

  FINRA warned broker-dealers Friday that they were failing to properly communicate to investors the potential pitfalls of nontraded REITs.

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  Massachusetts Floats Criminal Background Checks for Advisors

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  March 26, 2013

  The Massachusetts Securities Division is seeking comment on whether to require criminal background checks for advisors registering in the state.

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  State Regulator Blasts Arbitration Clause in RIA Contracts

  By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne  |  February 14, 2013

  The secretary of Massachusetts told the SEC on Wednesday to ban the use of mandatory pre-dispute arbitration clauses in the contracts of RIAs, saying that such clauses may not be in the best interests of clients.

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  LPL to Pay Up to $2.5M in Nontraded REITs Case

  By Janet Levaux, AdvisorOne  |  February 7, 2013

  The violations took place between 2006 and 2009 in Massachusetts, regulators say.

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  Massachusetts Slaps Morgan Stanley With $5M Fine Over Facebook IPO

  By Janet Levaux, AdvisorOne  |  December 18, 2012

  Massachusetts regulators said the firm's investment bankers had 'inappropriate influence' on its research analysts

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  NASAA Fires Off Warning as Crowdfunding Accelerates

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  December 7, 2012

  With the number of crowdfunding Internet domains jumping from 900 to 8,800 since the beginning of the year, NASAA sees big potential for abuse.

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  Top 10 Investor Threats for 2012: Some New, Some Old

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  August 24, 2012

  NASAA’s annual list of financial products and practices that threaten to trap unwary investors has been broken into two parts this year: new threats and persistent (or old) threats.

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  Boomerang: Will FINRA Oversight Force RIAs to the Next Level?

  By Bob Clark, AdvisorOne  |  June 12, 2012

  Mark Hurley's prediction that the RIA community will consolidate into 40 to 50 mega-firms may be effected by FINRA taking oversight of advisors. Maybe that's not a bad thing?

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  Why Bachus’ SRO Bill Misses the Target

  By Jack Herstein, NASAA  |  June 1, 2012

  Bachus’ SRO bill would impose rigid exam standards on state regulators without corresponding standards on either the SEC or SROs.