Newbridge Securities Corp.

Newbridge Securities Corp. is a full-service brokerage firm that was founded in 2000. It is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, and claims to have over 80 locations throughout the United States.

Newbridge has been the subject of over three dozen regulatory cases. Many of its financial advisors have been involved in Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claims brought by customers seeking damages for their investment losses. The firm has paid millions of dollars in fines, settlements, and arbitration awards.

Our securities lawyers are investigating claims of losses by current and former customers of Newbridge Securities. This has included, in recent years, the brokerage firm’s allegedly unsuitable recommendations of GWG Holdings L Bonds, Hospitality Investors Trust (HIT REIT), GPB Capital Holdings private placements, and other kinds of financial products that have resulted in significant investor losses.

To request your free case consultation, call Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) today at (800) 259-9010.

Report Raised Questions Over Whether Newbridge Securities Could Stay in Business

In early 2019, Newbridge Securities submitted its Form X-17A-5, also called a Focus Report, to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In the report, the brokerage firm disclosed nearly $33M in revenues in 2018 but only around $108K in net profits.

Liggett & Webb, the accounting firm that audited Newbridge Securities, expressed “substantial doubt” and “ongoing concern” about whether the broker-dealer could stay in business. The auditor also noted that despite having several existing unresolved legal claims totaling over $4.5M at the time, Newbridge only had a little over $625K allocated in the event it would be required to pay in these cases.

Newbridge Securities Allegedly Hires Rogue Brokers

In 2017, FINRA announced that it prioritized keeping track of high-risk/recidivist brokers. Also known as rogue brokers, these financial advisors have a record of violations or have left a trail of arbitration claims in their wake. They manage to stay in the industry by jumping from one broker-dealer to another. Newbridge Securities is one of the firms known for allegedly hiring rogue stockbrokers.

This has included now barred ex-Newbridge financial advisor David Fagenson. The firm hired Fagenson after he had already been fired by UBS Financial Services, where while under heightened supervision, he allegedly violated that firm’s trading policies.

Fagenson, barred by FINRA in 2019, has 19 disclosures on his BrokerCheck record. Another ex-Newbridge broker, Gerald Cocuzzo, pleaded guilty to securities fraud involving a $131M Ponzi scam in 2016.

Recent Regulatory Filings Involving Newbridge Securities

• 2019: FINRA censured and fined Newbridge $225K for supervisory failures related to complex securities sales, including those involving inverse-leveraged and leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and structured notes.
• 2017: The Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities fined Newbridge Securities $499K for failing to properly supervise one broker. This case was, once again, related to the sale of structured products.
• 2017: FINRA found that Newbridge Securities allegedly did not correctly report over 9,300 auditable events on 147 separate business days and also that it allegedly transmitted over 1,000 reports that were incomplete, improperly formatted, or inaccurate. In addition to the censure, the firm was ordered to pay a $17,500 fine.
• 2016: Newbridge was fined $115K and censured by FINRA for allegedly not applying sales discount charges when investors of unit investment trusts (UITs) qualified for them.
• 2014: FINRA fined Newbridge $138K for corporate bond transactions in which the broker-dealer allegedly did not sell or buy the bonds at a fair price.
• 2010: Newbridge Securities was fined $600K by FINRA for its alleged facilitation of manipulative trading involving one company’s stock that came from a reverse merger. The broker-dealer is accused of allowing certain individuals to sell unregistered stocks through their accounts and that these transactions purportedly were not in compliance. Newbridge Securities was accused of failing to supervise the financial advisors who took part in these unregistered securities sales.

Skilled Broker Misconduct Attorneys

In Florida, our Boca Raton securities lawyers can help you determine if your Newbridge Securities broker engaged in misconduct or negligence that contributed to your losses. Call us at (813) 560-2992.

Other possible grounds for a FINRA arbitration claim involving Newbridge may include misrepresentations and omissions, churning, failure to supervise, and other violations. Call SSEK Law Firm at (800) 259-9010 throughout the US or contact us online.

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