Hilliard Lyons slapped with $1M fine

NYSE Regulation has fined J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons $1 million for selling unregistered securities.

NYSE Regulation has fined J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons Inc. $1 million for selling unregistered securities.
The Louisville, Ky.-based investment firm also received citations for offering documents with misrepresentations and omissions of facts.
NYSE Regulation will also require the firm to pay back more than $3.5 million in restitution to its investors.
Between July 2000 and March 2001, the firm sold unregistered securities through a private placement offering to public investors.
In June 2000, Hilliard Lyons was designated as a financial adviser to Company ABC.
Between $2 million and $5 million was to be raised through a private placement offer and sale of convertible promissory notes to investors.
Registered reps sold a total of $3.6 million in promissory notes to 52 individuals, at least eight of whom were unaccredited, without making the disclosures necessary for a registration exemption or filing a registration statement.
Investors lost their cash when the company was liquidated in March 2001.
They were never told that their investments were in fact a risky bridge loan, a short-term investment made in anticipation of intermediate- or long-term financing.
In settling the charges, Hilliard Lyons neither admitted nor denied guilt.