Cambridge Investment Firm Reaches $1M Delaware Settlement

State of DE - A financial company will pay more than $1 million after Delaware found problems with how it watched over its clients' accounts. The company is Cambridge Investment Research Inc. and its advisory arm, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc.

This story is about a national investment company. It has no connection to the City of Cambridge in Dorchester County, Maryland.

Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced the deal. It ends an investigation by the Delaware Department of Justice into what happened after Cambridge let go of one of its financial advisers.

The trouble started when Cambridge ended its relationship with that adviser. The state refers to him only as the "former adviser." His clients were then supposed to be moved over to another financial professional at the company.

State officials say that process did not go the way it should have. The case was handled by the Investor Protection Unit, which is the part of the Delaware Department of Justice that oversees securities firms and the people who work for them.

The unit's director signed a consent order with Cambridge on October 9, 2026. That order lays out what the state found.

According to the director, Cambridge did not have the right checks in place to stop the former adviser from helping clients after he left. He was able to keep using the company's systems and staff for as long as a year.

The director also found problems with how some clients were handed off to a new adviser.

Some accounts went close to a year without anyone managing them. Those clients kept paying advisory fees the whole time.

On top of that, the director found Cambridge did not do enough to let clients know the former adviser had been removed from the advisory side of the business.

Cambridge agreed to the order without admitting or denying any of the findings. Under the deal, the company will pay $950,000 in penalties and $50,000 in costs.

Cambridge will also pay $52,465 back to clients whose advisory accounts were not properly watched after the former adviser left. That money is meant to refund the fees those clients paid.

Jennings spoke about the settlement in a statement.

"My office will not stand idly by when investment advisers fail to enforce basic safeguards and put the financial welfare of Delawareans at risk," said AG Jennings. "This settlement reflects our commitment to holding these firms accountable for their actions and ensuring that Delaware investors are protected from improper unregistered activity."

This is not the first time the state has acted on a case like this. In November 2025, the Investor Protection Unit reached a consent order with Kovack Advisors, Inc. That order included $995,180 in penalties, partly for supervisory violations.

Anyone who wants to look up their own financial adviser can check their registration status at brokercheck.finra.org. People who believe they were misled by a financial professional or firm can file a complaint with the Investor Protection Unit at attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/fraud/ipu/ipu-complaint-form/.

A full list of the Delaware Department of Justice's Administrative and Director Orders is posted at attorneygeneral.delaware.gov/fraud/orders/.