Boca Raton, Florida-based National Securities has ceased its operations after 75 years in business and shifted its advisors to B. Riley Wealth, according to B. Riley and a form recently filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority by the former National Holdings subsidiary.
A FINRA BrokerCheck record says broker-dealer National Securities terminated its registration a on July 25 and has a pending withdrawal date from the organization of July 27; the National Securities website states that the firm is now part of B. Riley Wealth.
B. Riley Financial acquired a large stake in National Holdings in 2018 and bought the remaining shares in early 2021; at that time, National Holdings had about 700 registered representatives and $20 million in client assets, while B. Riley Wealth Management had roughly 170 advisors and $12 billion in assets.
As of July, National Securities had close to 575 registered advisors, according to a report Friday in Investment News, which first reported the firm's closing.
Regulatory Issues
News of the BD's closing comes about one month after FINRA ordered National Securities to pay a total of $9 million in fines, disgorgement of profits and restitution to investors tied to 10 public offerings in which the firm "attempted to artificially influence the market for the offered securities," as well as other misconduct and violations. The offerings took place between mid-2016 and late 2018.
From September 1999 to June 2022, National Securities had 82 disclosures, according to its latest BrokerCheck report. This includes 66 regulatory events and 16 arbitration cases.
