Goodman & Nekvasil P.A. May Recover Investor Losses – DeVere USA, Inc. Ordered to Cease and Desist by SEC
Securities and Exchange Commission Orders DeVere USA, Inc. to Cease and Desist
According to the SEC, these proceedings arise out of investment adviser DeVere USA, Inc. failure to make full and fair disclosure to clients and prospective clients of material conflicts of interest regarding compensation obtained from third-party product and service providers. The SEC found that DeVere USA, Inc. clients are primarily U.S. residents or citizens who held U.K. defined benefit and defined contribution pensions. The SEC found that DeVere USA, Inc. provided investment advice to its clients in connection with the transfer of these U.K. pension assets to overseas retirement plans that qualified under the U.K. tax authority’s regulations as a Qualifying Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme (“QROPS”). Between at least June 2013 and March 2016, DeVere USA, Inc. did not disclose arrangements in which third-party product and service providers recommended by DeVere USA, Inc. in connection with its QROPS advice compensated an overseas affiliate of DeVere USA, Inc. that, in most cases, in turn compensated the DeVere USA, Inc. investment adviser representative (“IAR”) who had made the recommendations. The SEC found that the undisclosed compensation constituted the primary form of compensation received by DeVere USA, Inc. IARs for their advisory services. Each of these arrangements created an economic incentive for DeVere USA, Inc.to recommend a transfer to a QROPS and/or to recommend certain product and service providers.
In addition, the SEC found that DeVere USA, Inc. IARs made statements concerning the benefits of transferring U.K. pension assets to a QROPS, including with respect to U.S. and U.K. tax treatment and the investment options that a DeVere USA, Inc. client would have in a QROPS, that were materially misleading or incomplete. In addition, the SEC found that DeVere USA, Inc. failed to satisfy disclosure requirements with respect to its Form ADV filings. The SEC found that DeVere USA, Inc. also failed to both tailor its compliance program to its actual business and to undertake many of the responsibilities laid out in its existing compliance manual.
Clients of DeVere USA, Inc. May Recover their Losses with Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A.
If you became a client of DeVere USA, Inc. through a licensed financial advisor, Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. can help you. Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A., a Clearwater, Florida, law firm with a national practice representing victimized investors, has filed hundreds of cases against brokerage firms selling high-risk or fraudulent investments and has recovered more than $180 million dollars on behalf of victimized investors.
All our cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis by Kalju Nekvasil, Esq., formerly regional counsel with the NASD, now known as FINRA. Kalju Nekvasil, Esq. has practiced in this area of the law for more than 35 years.
There is no charge for an evaluation of your case. Further, we handle our cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that unless we recover money for you, we charge no attorney’s fee. Unless you recover any money, you pay us nothing, not even the costs and expenses which the firm will advance on your behalf.
If you incurred losses with DeVere USA, Inc. and would like your case evaluated by a securities attorney (again, there is no charge for an evaluation and all cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis), please contact us.
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