NOTE: Stipulations of Fact and Consent to Penalty (SFC); Offers of Settlement (OS); and Letters of Acceptance Waiver, and Consent (AWC) are entered into by Respondents without admitting or denying the allegations, but consent is given to the described sanctions & to the entry of findings. Additionally, for AWCs, if FINRA has reason to believe a violation has occurred and the member or associated person does not dispute the violation, FINRA may prepare and request that the member or associated person execute a letter accepting a finding of violation, consenting to the imposition of sanctions, and agreeing to waive such member's or associated person's right to a hearing before a hearing panel, and any right of appeal to the National Adjudicatory Council, the SEC, and the courts, or to otherwise challenge the validity of the letter, if the letter is accepted. The letter shall describe the act or practice engaged in or omitted, the rule, regulation, or statutory provision violated, and the sanction or sanctions to be imposed.

Newbridge Securities Corporation
AWC/2009016159401

The Firm failed to establish, maintain and enforce a supervisory system and written procedures relating to private offerings the firm sold to its customers. The firm’s supervisory system and written procedures for private offerings were deficient; they did not identify due diligence steps to be taken for private offerings. The firm approved for sale, and sold, various private offerings by an entity that raised approximately $2.2 billion from over 20,000 investors through several Regulation D offerings.

The entity made all interest and principal payments on these Regulation D offerings until it began experiencing liquidity problems and stopped making payments on some of its earlier offerings; nevertheless, the entity proceeded with another offering. The firm’s due diligence for the offering consisted merely of reviewing the PPM and investor subscription documents, without seeking or obtaining financial documents or information from the issuer regarding the offering, nor did the firm obtain any due diligence report for the offering or visit the issuer’s facilities or meet with its key personnel. The firm approved for sale, and sold, a total of $258,597.16 to its customers for interests in another entity’s private offering. In addition, the firm failed to conduct due diligence for these offerings; among other things, it did not obtain offering documentation beyond the investor subscription documents. Moreover, the firm sold additional unregistered offerings to its customers and failed to conduct adequate due diligence for each of these other offerings.

Newbridge Securities Corporation : Censured; Fined $25,000

Tags: Unregistered Securities  Due Diligence  Private Placement