Corporate & Securities Law

Workman To Pay $700K To Resolve Med Cap/Provident Royalties Claims

By Keith Griffin

Workman Securities, a big seller of private placements in Medical Capital Holdings and Provident Royalties, has reached an agreement with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to settle issues over the deals. The broker/dealer will pay $700,000 for partial restitution to more than a dozen clients with legal claims against Workman for sales of the risky investments involving Med Cap and Provident.

Both Medical Capital and Provident Royalties were charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the summer of 2009.

As reported Feb. 14 by Investment News, Workman?s insurance carrier, Catlin Specialty Insurance Co., has paid $2.3 million to various clients who?ve sued the firm.

Workman Securities is one of many broker/dealers that sold investors on risky private-placement deals involving Medical Capital and Provident Royalties. Workman reps sold just over $9 million of private placements in Provident, according to U.S. bankruptcy court filings.

According to FINRA?s Broker Check Web site, Workman allegedly was lacking in the supervision and due diligence department at the time it sold the private placements.

?The firm failed to have reasonable grounds to believe that a private placement offered by an entity pursuant to Regulation D was suitable for any customer after the firm received red flags that the entity had financial issues and was not timely making interest payments,? the site alleges.

Broker Check goes on to say: ?[Workman] failed to enforce a supervisory system reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable securities laws and regulation and Finra rules in connection with the sale of the private placement offered by the entity pursuant to Regulation D. The firm failed to conduct adequate due diligence of the private placement offered by the entity pursuant to Regulation D.?

If you have a story to tell involving Medical Capital Holdings or Provident Royalties, please contact a member of the securities fraud team at Maddox, Hargett & Caruso.

Full post as published by Representing Investors on February 15, 2011 (boomark / email).