News Releases

The following are summaries of administrative enforcement actions the Texas State Securities Board took from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2020. Next Financial Group: Fine, Refunds Next Financial Group Inc. of Houston agreed to refund $500,000 to customers of a former Texas agent who for five years moved...

The COVID-19 pandemic has roiled securities markets in ways we have never experienced and is making financial decisions vastly more difficult than usual. We want to assure Texans that our primary focus remains on the protection of retail investors, and we are actively taking steps to protect the...

Amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic and careening markets in everything from stocks and bonds to oil, it can seem impossible to focus on the long view in investing. Impossible, even, to focus on anything but the next hour or next day. We don't know the future of the markets any more than the full...

Texas Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles on Feb. 25 ordered Austin insurance agent Gary N. Beasley to stop offering promissory notes tied to a Philadelphia, Pa. company that has been sanctioned by two states and sued for predatory lending to small businesses. According to the Emergency Cease and...

Woodland Resources LLC, the oil and gas company once led by a Fort Worth oilman with a history of regulatory sanctions and running companies into bankruptcy, paid a $20,000 fine to the state and will offer to refund $1.49 million to investors in two of its drilling projects. Under the terms of an...

Brett Pittsenbargar, an Austin insurance agent who allegedly sold $9.3 million in fraudulent investments, was arrested Feb. 19 to face first-degree felony charges of securities fraud, money laundering, and theft. A Travis County grand jury's Feb. 4 indictment of Pittsenbargar was made public when he...

Next Financial Group Inc. of Houston agreed to refund $500,000 to customers of a former Texas agent who for five years moved clients in and out of high-cost mutual funds to generate commissions. Next Financial Group also paid a $100,000 fine to the State of Texas for failing to properly supervise...

In 2019, the Texas State Securities Board took enforcement actions that resulted in the repayment of $2.58 million to investors and $575,000 in fines paid to the State of Texas. The funds returned to investors came through administrative orders, a civil court forfeiture order, and rescission offers...

Tin and aluminum are traditional for a 10th anniversary, but we got you a book: The 10th anniversary edition of the Texas Investor Guide: Strategies for Investing Wisely and Avoiding Financial Fraud. As always, it is free upon request, and you can obtain copies by providing a mailing address to txig...

Certain types of investments—and investment promoters—should always get your common sense tingling. Recognizing fraudulent and inappropriate investments is one part of the equation for safe investing. Knowing what to do — the questions to ask, the steps to take — is the second. As you wade into the...