Pending Customer Disputes Involving David Lerner Associates Broker Rafael Klein Seek $300K in Damages Rafael Scott Klein, a David Lerner Associates broker and Spirit of America Management Corp. investment advisor, may have unsuitably sold investments in Energy 11, LP to customers. Energy 11 is a non-traded limited partnership set up…
San Diego-Based Brokerage Firm Under Scrutiny Over Sierra Income Sales LPL Financial Holdings (LPLA), the largest independent brokerage firm in the United States, has finalized its acquisition of Lucia Securities, a San Diego-based broker-dealer and registered investment advisor. With over $1.5B in assets, Lucia Securities and its advisors will operate…
Lax Oversight Purportedly Allowed An LPL Broker to Continue Defrauding Customers in Ponzi Scam The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined LPL Financial Holdings (LPLA) $6.5M due to purported supervisory inadequacies related to recordkeeping, fingerprinting employees that were non-registered representatives, and its financial advisers’ consolidated reports. The self-regulatory organization…
FINRA Settlement Includes Restitution to More than 2,400 Customers In an agreement reached with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Transamerica Financial Advisors consented to pay $8.8M over the unsuitable sales of mutual funds, variable annuities (VAs) and 529 savings plans to customers. $4.4M of this is a fine and…
New FINRA Arbitration Claim Seeks $260K in Damages Former Wells Fargo Clearing Services (WRET) broker Herbert Lee Weith IV is named in yet another customer dispute in which the claimant is seeking damages for losses involving variable annuities. Weith, who was a Wells Fargo broker from 2012 to 2019 in…
Connecticut Investment Advisor is Also Part of RBC Team Chu, Philipps, and Associates Joseph Ijong Chu, an RBC Capital Markets stockbroker, has been named in a number of customer disputes this year. Chu is also a registered investment advisor with the broker-dealer. He is part of the RBC team known…
Ex-LPL Broker Marketed Non-Traded Investments To Mississippi Retiree A retired investor has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration claim against LPL Financial and its former broker, Tamber King Proctor, seeking up to $100K in damages. The claimant contends that LPL Financial and Proctor should have never recommended that…
Proprietary, Non-Traded Oil, Gas and Energy Investments Plunged In Value If your David Lerner Associates broker recommended and sold you any of the firm’s proprietary non-traded oil and gas investments and you sustained significant losses, you may have grounds for an investor fraud claim for damages. The privately-held broker-dealer exclusively…
FINRA Suspends Texas Broker For Three Months Kurt Jason Gunter, a Wells Fargo Clearing Services (WRET) registered representative in Bee Cave, Texas, was recently sanctioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The self-regulatory organization (SRO) contends that he allegedly made unsuitable unit investment trust (UIT) sales to customers. In…
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Accuses Bank of Inadequate Internal Controls JPMorgan Chase Bank has been ordered to pay a $250M penalty. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) contends that the bank engaged in “unsafe and unsound practices” related to its internal controls and an…