On July 11, 2025, the SEC charged American Portfolios Advisors, Inc. (APA) with failing to adequately disclose conflicts of interest and overbilling. During the investigation, the president and chief compliance officer were found to have inappropriately created and provided back-dated documents.
Osaic, which previously went under the name The Advisor Group, a firm that includes a large network of securities brokerages and investment advisories, purchased APA in 2022.
The SEC alleges that APA breached its fiduciary duty to clients by failing to fully and fairly disclose the nature and extent of conflicts of interest associated with clearing broker. The relationship resulted in additional costs to clients. Such fees included fee markups on various types of securities transaction. The failure to disclose also included disclosure of certain account service fees.
APA also, as alleged by the SEC, erroneously billed and collected advisory fees on alternative investments. No fees were supposed to be assessed on those investments, and APA failed to give investors the appropriate refund of the advisory fees when clients terminated their accounts, as provided in APA’s client agreements.
Further, the SEC’s found that in response to a request for documents by SEC staff, APA’s chief compliance officer created and backdated compliance documents for three calendar years. These documents purported to memorialize contemporaneous annual compliance reviews as required by APA’s internal policies. According to the order, the three documents were signed and backdated by both APA’s president and chief compliance officer.
We are a firm that advocates for investors and educates the investing public. This post is for educational purposes.
Recent Comments