NASD Issues Summary Suspension Of Brokerage LH Ross

NASD announced today it has issued a summary suspension of Boca Raton, FL-based brokerage LH Ross & Company, Inc., based on its determination that the firm is in such financial or operational difficulty that it cannot be permitted to continue to do business as a member with safety to investors, creditors, other members or NASD. The suspension prevents LH Ross from doing business and is effective immediately.

The firm may request a hearing to set aside the summary suspension within seven days - by March 3. Any such request must state with specificity any and all defenses and the specific grounds for setting aside the suspension. A hearing would be held within 14 days after the filing of a request.

Investors can obtain more information about, and the disciplinary record of, any NASD-registered broker or brokerage firm by using NASD's BrokerCheck. NASD makes BrokerCheck available at no charge to the public. In 2004, members of the public used this service to conduct more than 3.8 million searches for existing brokers or firms and requested more than 190,000 reports in cases where disclosable information existed on a broker or firm. Investors can link directly to BrokerCheck at www.nasdbrokercheck.com. Investors can also access this service by calling (800) 289-9999.

NASD is the leading private-sector provider of financial regulatory services, dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. NASD touches virtually every aspect of the securities business - from registering and educating all industry participants, to examining securities firms, enforcing both NASD rules and the federal securities laws, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and member firms. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.nasd.com.