Ex-JP Morgan Broker Ed Turley Investigation Continues

Customers of San Francisco Financial Advisor Seek More Than $62 Million in Damages

Our broker misconduct attorneys at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm at investorlawyers.com) are continuing to investigate claims of losses involving ex-J.P. Morgan Securities stockbroker, Edward L. Turley.

Although Turley’s BrokerCheck record notes that he is still registered with the brokerage firm, reports indicate that the San Francisco-based financial advisor is no longer with J.P. Morgan. AdvisorHub reports that according to sources, he either left the broker-dealer or was fired.

Turley, who has worked in the industry for 28 years, has five pending Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration cases naming him in which the claimants are collectively requesting over $62 million in damages.

Turley’s Central Registration Depository (CRD) ‘Snapshot’ report notes that these customers live in Ohio, Texas, and Washington. SSEK Law Firm is representing the Claimants in the majority of the cases already filed against JP Morgan Securities as a result of Turley.

Broker Ed Turley Accused of Unsuitable Trading and Overconcentration

Ed Turley was a top-producing broker for J.P. Morgan with the title of executive vice-chairman. At one point, records indicate that he was managing more than $1.6 billion in client assets.

According to the claims that have already been filed, Turley overconcentrated customers’ accounts in energy-based master limited partnerships (MLPs), preferred stocks from financial companies, and below investment grade bonds (“junk” bonds). All of which have suffered significant losses especially after the market turmoil in March 2020 when COVID-19 first struck.

In addition to the securities themselves being high risk, the existing claims all allege that the San Francisco-based broker also used excessive leverage in their accounts, with many accounts using foreign exchange investments to provide the leverage. On the statements for clients, this would look essentially as if the client was “shorting” the Euro, Japanese Yen, or the Swiss Franc.

In addition, the claims consistently allege that although the ex-JP Morgan broker did not have discretion in any of his clients’ accounts, he operated as if he had discretion. That is, according to the complaints, Turley would buy and sell investments in customers’ accounts without first consulting the customer on the trades. If discretion has not actually been given and documented, that is a clear violation of FINRA rules.

Current Disclosures on Turley’s Broker Check

July 2021: Alleging unsuitable trading and exercise of discretion between 2018 and 2020, this claimant is requesting $18 million in damages.
September 2020: This customer is making similar allegations, with the trading activity at issue allegedly taking place between 2016 and 2020. The claimant is seeking $11.3 million in damages.
September 2020: For allegedly making unsuitable investment recommendations and recommending an unapproved, outside investment (this is known as selling away), these investors are seeking more than $5 million in damages.
June 2020: Making similar allegations, including that his entire account was lost in March 2020, this customer is requesting $23 million in damages.
May 2020: This claimant is requesting $5 million in damages for essentially the same alleged wrongdoing as the others.

February 1999: This customer dispute accused Turley of breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentations, and breach of contract involving mutual funds and equities during his time as a Lehman Brothers broker. It was settled for $49,000.

Seeking Financial Recovery From J.P. Morgan Securities

Even though Ed Turley is no longer with the broker-dealer in question, this doesn’t mean you can’t file a FINRA arbitration claim to recover damages for the losses that you have suffered.

For over 30 years, SSEK Law Firm has fought for investors against the largest firms on Wall Street and obtained many hundreds of millions of dollars in financial compensation on our clients’ behalf. Moreover, we are specifically very familiar with Turley and his trading operation at JP Morgan Securities, and already we are working with many of his former customers.

Speak to one of our broker misconduct attorneys at SSEK Law Firm today by calling (800) 259-9010.