PFP News

SEC CENSURES GILMAN CIOCIA

Washington, D.C. - The Securities and Exchange Commission has censured Gilman Ciocia and its Prime Capital Services unit for marketing, offering and selling variable annuities that were unsuitable investments for elderly customers.

The SEC issued an order censuring both PCS and G&C, and ordered them to cease and desist from violating securities laws. PCS was also ordered to disgorge $97,389.05, plus $46,873.53 in prejudgment interest, while G&C was ordered to pay $1 in disgorgement and a civil monetary penalty of $450,000 to be paid in three installments. In addition, PCS and G&C have agreed to take several steps, including hiring an independent compliance consultant to review and recommend changes to PCS's supervisory procedures, and giving notice of the settlement to elderly customers who bought variable annuities from particular registered representatives.

PCS and G&C consented to the issuance of the order without admitting or denying any of the findings.

NEW FINANCIAL LITERACY SITE

Philadelphia - The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Dartmouth College and Rand Corp. have teamed up to launch a new online Financial Literacy Center aimed at developing and testing innovative programs to improve financial literacy, and generating educational materials designed for different segments of the population. The site will be adding multimedia features such as videos, games and interactive tools. For more, visit http://financial-literacy.rand.org.

1ST GLOBAL TAPS NOBEL LAUREATE AS ADVISOR

Dallas - Broker-dealer 1st Global has engaged Nobel Prize winner Dr. Harry Markowitz as an advisor to its Investment Management Solutions Committee and as a consultant to its Investment Management Research Group. Markowitz, who received the 1990 Nobel for economics for his dissertation on Modern Portfolio Theory, will advise 1st Global on asset allocation model development processes, and more.

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