On October 5, 2009, FINRA reported that it will expand its “pilot” program that allows investors who file eligible claims to select an arbitration panel that consists of three “public” arbitrators, rather than the traditional panel comprised of two “public” arbitrators and one “non-public” arbitrator.
To accomplish this, FINRA has expanded the program to include cases against the following 14 broker-dealers (from 11 broker-dealers):

Chase Investment Services (10 cases);
Oppenheimer & Co. (15 cases);
Raymond James Financial Services/Raymond James & Associates (10 cases);
Citigroup Global …

ProFunds Group, one of the largest issuers of leveraged and inverse ETFs recently issued a warning that some of its leveraged and inverse ETFs may not be suitable for all investors. In the prospectus dated October 1, 2009, the company repeatedly states:
The Fund is different from most exchangetraded funds in that it seeks leveraged returns and only on a daily basis. The Fund also is riskier than similarly benchmarked exchange-traded funds that do not use leverage. Accordingly, the Fund may …

On October 1, 2009, Colorado Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph announced that the Securities Division had filed a complaint against Stifel, Nicolaus & Company. According to the Division’s news release, the complaint alleges:
Stifel Nicolaus falsely represented auction rate securities as liquid, short-term investments to Colorado investors without discussing the risks. These representations gave investors a false sense of security that the investments would always be liquid when auction rate securities, in fact, faced significant, inherent liquidity risks.
A copy of the Notice …