Broker-Dealers May Have Unsuitably Sold This Risky Investment To Retail Customers and Retirees
If your broker recommended that you purchase shares in Atlas Growth Partners, LP, you may be able to file a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against the broker-dealer. Unfortunately, according to the limited partnership’s filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Atlas Growth investors may have lost nearly 99% of their principal. Not only that, but after raising more than $230M from thousands of investors, as of March 31, 2021, the company was only able to report net assets of under $4M. This means that Atlas Growth investors could be looking at more than $200M in losses.
Our Texas oil and gas securities lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com) are working with Atlas Growth Partners investors, including many retail investors and retirees, that were unsuitably sold shares in this company. Please contact us today at (800) 259-9010 so that one of our securities attorneys can help you explore your legal options.
What Is Atlas Growth Partners?
This limited partnership was established in 2013 to conduct natural gas and oil operations, as well as to develop and produce crude oil, natural gas, and hydrocarbons. Atlas Growth Partners’ operations are mostly concentrated in Eagle Ford Shale in Texas.
After having failed to submit a number of financial reports since 2019, in March 2021, Atlas Growth Partners finally notified the SEC that there had been “significant risks and uncertainties” that could impact whether it could fulfill its current liabilities and the company was worried as to whether it could keep going. It later reported net losses over the last two years. Atlas Growth cited how the COVID-19 pandemic had adversely impacted the oil and gas industries. In December 2021, Atlas Growth Partners filed a notice to end its securities registration.
Did Brokers Ignore Red Flags Involving Atlas Growth In Favor Of High Commissions?
Unfortunately, financial advisors may have either allegedly chosen to disregard the red flags indicating that Atlas Growth Partners was having financial problems or purportedly failed to conduct the necessary due diligence to find out these issues. Many oil and gas investors are saying they were never apprised of the company’s difficulties. Others have said that they were not told that purchasing shares in Atlas Growth could be risky for them, which could be grounds for a misrepresentations and omissions claim.
Like all alternative investments, Atlas Growth was always a high-risk, speculative venture that should have only been marketed and sold to sophisticated investors that could tolerate this level of risk of loss. Instead, brokerage firms also may have unsuitably sold shares in Atlas Growth Partners to their more inexperienced and conservative retail customers, including retirees and elderly investors.
Unfortunately, the lure of the high commissions and substantial upfront fees that broker-dealers stood to earn from selling Atlas Growth Partners shares to customers may have been the greater incentive than looking out for clients’ best interests. It may even be that up to 10% of an investor’s capital went to the broker-dealer manager rather than their actual investments.
Atlas Growth Investor can Recoup Losses with a Securities Attorney
Contact our securities lawyers and investment fraud law firm right away. Our oil and gas securities attorneys represent investors in Texas and throughout the United States in pursuing damages from the broker-dealers responsible for their losses.
Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas can help you determine whether you have grounds for pursuing a FINRA arbitration claim against your firm. Should we agree to work together, we can build and submit a solid case on your behalf, represent you before the panel of arbitrators, and fight for your financial recovery.
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