World Group Securities
Encyclopedia
World Group Securities, Inc. (WGS) is the exclusive broker-dealer
affiliate of World Financial Group
(WFG) and is a member of the AEGON
Group.
(FINRA) to sell securities through World Financial Group
associates in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
and Puerto Rico
under the CRD number 114473. Its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) number is 8-53428.
Their registered types of business includes:
(WFG), only properly licensed and registered WFG representatives may represent World Group Securities.
, USA on 02/06/2001 in order to replace World Marketing Alliance Securities (WMAS) as servicing broker-dealer when the book of business generated by World Marketing Alliance (WMA) was bought out by AEGON
and reassigned to the newly-created World Financial Group
.
(WFG) and World Group Securities (WGS). In addition, a number of customers have filed private arbitration
claims.
Broker-dealer
A broker-dealer is a term used in United States financial services regulations. It is a natural person, a company or other organization that trades securities for its own account or on behalf of its customers....
affiliate of World Financial Group
World Financial Group
World Financial Group is a financial services marketing organization based in Johns Creek, Georgia that markets investment, insurance, and various other financial products through a network of associates in the United States and Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AEGON...
(WFG) and is a member of the AEGON
AEGON
Aegon N.V. is one of the world’s largest life insurance and pension groups, and a strong provider of investment products. Aegon's head office is in The Hague, Netherlands...
Group.
Registration
World Group Securities, Inc. is registered with the Financial Industry Regulatory AuthorityFinancial Industry Regulatory Authority
In the United States, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, is a private corporation that acts as a self-regulatory organization . FINRA is the successor to the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. ...
(FINRA) to sell securities through World Financial Group
World Financial Group
World Financial Group is a financial services marketing organization based in Johns Creek, Georgia that markets investment, insurance, and various other financial products through a network of associates in the United States and Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AEGON...
associates in all 50 states plus Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
under the CRD number 114473. Its U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) number is 8-53428.
Their registered types of business includes:
- Broker or dealer selling corporate debt securities (for example, bondBond (finance)In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
) - Broker or dealer retailing corporate equity securities over-the-counter
- Government securities broker
- Mutual fundMutual fundA mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors to buy stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, and/or other securities.- Overview :...
retailer - Municipal securities broker
- Non-exchange member arranging for transactions in listed securities by exchange member
- Broker or dealer selling variable life insuranceInsuranceIn law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
or annuities
Products
World Group Securities, Inc. distributes a wide array of securities products. These products are:- Variable products are variable annuities and variable life insurance contracts issued by insurance companies, some of which may be affiliated with WGS.
- Mutual funds are investment company securities, some of which may be affiliated with WGS.
- General securities are products which are cleared through the Company’s clearing firm. These products typically include corporate equity and debt securities traded on registered and over-the-counterOver-the-counter (finance)Within the derivatives markets, many products are traded through exchanges. An exchange has the benefit of facilitating liquidity and also mitigates all credit risk concerning the default of a member of the exchange. Products traded on the exchange must be well standardised to transparent trading....
(OTC) exchanges, U.S. government securities and municipal securities. These products may be held in cash or margin accounts. (Although certain mutual funds can also be purchased through the clearing firm, for purposes of these procedures such products will be considered to be mutual funds and not general securities.) A General Securities registration, or Series 7General Securities Representative ExamThe General Securities Representative Exam, commonly referred to as the Series 7 Exam, is a required exam to become a Registered Representative of a broker-dealer in the United States....
, is required in order to transact in “all” of the aforementioned products.
Business model
Being that World Group Securities is the exclusive securities channel for World Financial GroupWorld Financial Group
World Financial Group is a financial services marketing organization based in Johns Creek, Georgia that markets investment, insurance, and various other financial products through a network of associates in the United States and Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AEGON...
(WFG), only properly licensed and registered WFG representatives may represent World Group Securities.
History
World Group Securities was incorporated in DelawareDelaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, USA on 02/06/2001 in order to replace World Marketing Alliance Securities (WMAS) as servicing broker-dealer when the book of business generated by World Marketing Alliance (WMA) was bought out by AEGON
AEGON
Aegon N.V. is one of the world’s largest life insurance and pension groups, and a strong provider of investment products. Aegon's head office is in The Hague, Netherlands...
and reassigned to the newly-created World Financial Group
World Financial Group
World Financial Group is a financial services marketing organization based in Johns Creek, Georgia that markets investment, insurance, and various other financial products through a network of associates in the United States and Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AEGON...
.
Lawsuits
Some state securities officials, including those in Iowa, Alabama, Missouri, Utah, and Minnesota, have filed lawsuits to bar inappropriate sales practices by World Financial GroupWorld Financial Group
World Financial Group is a financial services marketing organization based in Johns Creek, Georgia that markets investment, insurance, and various other financial products through a network of associates in the United States and Canada. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of AEGON...
(WFG) and World Group Securities (WGS). In addition, a number of customers have filed private arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
claims.
- A 2004 National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) disciplinary action report summarized disciplinary actions against World Group Securities. According to the report, WGS "submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $15,000. Without admitting or denying the allegations, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that the firm permitted representatives to act in registered capacities while their registrations were inactive due to their failure to satisfy the Regulatory Element of NASD's Continuing Education Requirements. NASD also found that the firm failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system reasonably designed to assure compliance with the Regulatory Element of the Continuing Education Requirement by its registered representatives."
- In December 2006, World Group Securities and one of its brokers were fined $150,000 by Missouri's commissioner of securities for selling unsuitable products to elderly people. Other cases of private arbitration "where variable annuities were allegedly sold to people too old to realize any benefit before they died" were also reported. Utah’s Division of Securities has cited at least four World Group Securities brokers since 2006.
- In April 2007, World Group Securities was fined $50,000 for failing to supervise its representatives in the State of Utah, who were misrepresenting their credentials and services rendered during free lunch seminars targeting seniors.
- In June 2007, a couple filed an NASD arbitration claim against World Group Securities, alleging misrepresentation that caused them to lose over $500,000 on investment products that were unsuitable for their risk tolerance. A judge sided with the couple and forced the company into arbitration over the proceedings, and a settlement was reached.
- In April 2010, World Group Securities was fined in excess of $850,000 as the result of the unauthorized sale of private securities by some of its agents in the State of Arizona.
- In May 2010, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a federal case against two former brokers of World Group Securities, accusing them of having raised approximately $14,800,000 through the offer and sale of promissory notes as part of an illegal Ponzi schemePonzi schemeA Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from any actual profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation...
in the States of Ohio and Florida between September 2005 and December 2008.
- In November 2010, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered World Group Securities to pay, among other things, a civil monetary penalty in the amount of $200,000 for the fraudulent selling of unsuitable securities in the State of California, which were funded using home equity, derived from the refinance of the customers' homes into subprime mortgages.