Broker Dealer Negligence Attorney Assists Northstar Financial Service Clients

SSEK Broker Dealer Negligence Attorneys Helping Northstar Financial Services Investors

Are You A Japanese Investor Whose US-Based Broker Sold You Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Products?

Retired Couple Files FINRA Lawsuit Against Bankoh Investment Services and Broker Yoko Farias

If you are a Japanese citizen who was sold Northstar (Bermuda) investments by your US-based financial advisor, you may be wondering what you should do to recover your investment losses. Unfortunately, many foreign nationals, including investors from Asia, Latin America, and South America, unsuitably sold fixed and variable annuity-like investments and other products from this offshore entity that is now defunct.

These investments were too risky and illiquid for many of these customers, who wanted the protections and stability provided by financial products found in the United States. Yet dozens of brokerage firms appear to have marketed and sold Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) to their clients, including retail customers and retirees who had conservative investing goals and low-risk tolerance levels.

This is why our skilled Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) investor losses attorneys have filed another Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against Bankoh Investment Services and one of its brokers. The claimants are a retired Japanese couple who worked with Honolulu-based financial advisor Yoko Farias. She allegedly essentially 100% concentrated their money in high-risk products. Now, these Japanese retirees are seeking up to $500K in damages.

Smith Edwards and Kantas are also representing Northstar (Bermuda) against other broker-dealers in FINRA arbitration.

Was It Broker-Dealer Negligence To Recommend Northstar (Bermuda) To Foreign Nationals Wanting Low Risk, Safe Secure Investments?

Brokerage firm negligence is when a financial firm neglects to provide an investor with the standard of care to which they are entitled. Consider that Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) investments come from an obscure offshore company in a UK territory and there are comparable, safer, better-protected US-based products available. It does not make any sense that so many broker-dealers recommended Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) to so many foreign investors seeking a safe haven for their money.

Also, as far back as 2011, Moody’s had already deemed Bermuda as a place with a very negative outlook for investing. Not only that but Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) is an unrated agency and its products don’t come with the same protections that can be found with US-based investments. By 2018 and 2019, this offshore entity had already failed to submit important documentation to regulators. Also, in March 2019, less than one year after billionaire Greg Lindberg took ownership of Northstar (Bermuda), he was indicted on criminal charges and in 2020 went to prison for bribery. Lindberg was released in 2022 after a federal appeals court threw out his conviction. A retrial is scheduled for 2023.

For more information visit our Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) to find out about the many events that have negatively impacted this offshore entity in recent years.

All of this is information that Bankoh and other broker-dealers would have or should have known. They should have alerted their brokers and their customers to these developments. They most definitely should never have concentrated the portfolios of customers, especially retirees with conservative investing goals, in these types of financial products. Yet this is exactly what happened to many Northstar (Bermuda) investors. It is very likely that high commissions and fees were the alleged incentives for making such recommendations instead of looking out for clients’ best interests.

As a matter of fact, at any time in the last few years, brokerage firms could have apprised clients that Northstar (Bermuda) was in trouble and rectified their mistake of unsuitably recommending its products to customers. Instead, many brokers did not advise their customers that changes should be made to their investments and they continued to misrepresent Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) as a safe, low-risk bet.

How Can Our Experienced Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) Investor Loss Attorneys Help You?

As many investors struggle with recovering money on their Northstar (Bermuda) investments that could very well be worthless now, it is important that they consider their legal options.

Because you signed an agreement with your broker-dealer to resolve any disagreement with them in FINRA arbitration, that is where you will need to make your investment loss claim. However, first, you will need to determine whether you have grounds for a FINRA lawsuit and that is where Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas can help. A few of the key questions that will need to be answered:

Did your broker unsuitably recommend Northstar (Bermuda) investments to you when you wanted to take on little, if any risk, and wanted safe US-protected investments?
Were you properly apprised of the risks involved or were misrepresentations and omissions made about your investment?
Were your portfolio overconcentrated by Northstar Financial Services (Bermuda) and other high-risk investments by your broker-dealer?
Did your brokerage firm properly supervise your financial advisor?

Should we agree to work together, our seasoned Broker Dealer Negligence Attorney team can prepare and file your FINRA lawsuit on your behalf and argue your case before a panel of FINRA arbitrators. We will also advocate for your best interests and protect your rights.

FINRA Arbitration FAQs

Over the years, our experienced Broker Dealer Negligence Attorney teams have recovered many millions of dollars for investors.