SSEK Broker Misconduct Attorney

Barred Brokers May Still Pose A Risk To Investors

Many Find Ways To Keep Working As Financial Advisors Despite Industry Expulsion

According to a Financial Advisor IQ article, hundreds of brokers who have been barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) continue to find ways to stay in business even if it is no longer registered representatives with a broker-dealer. Many continue to promote themselves as trusted financial advisors, wealth planners, or insurance agents.

Reportedly, at least 349 FINRA-barred individuals have a valid insurance license in at least one US state. Shepherd Smith Edward and Kantas Managing Partner and SSEK Broker Misconduct Attorney Sam Edwards said in the article: “They turn into a financial services company … selling a bunch of financial products, but do it under the guise of, ‘No, no, it’s just insurance’.” Edwards used to serve as president of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association.

There are many reasons why FINRA might decide to bar a broker, including misconduct, fraud, elder abuse, refusing to cooperate in an investigation, not providing requested information to the self-regulatory organization (SRO), charging excessive markups, criminal behavior, and more.

While a FINRA bar is enough grounds to take away someone’s insurance license in some US states, that is not the case in every state. This can allow a barred stockbroker to continue working with customers.

For example, the Financial Advisor IQ article noted that Jeffery Allan Forrest now runs Sound Financial & Insurance Solutions in San Luis Obispo, California. His website lists a number of services, incoming asset protection strategies, retirement income strategies, and more.

Forrest was barred by FINRA in 2009 after he purportedly failed to cooperate with the SRO’s probe into unsuitability allegations involving investments in the collapsed Apex Equity Options Fund. About $8.6M in arbitration awards were granted to investors.

While barred brokers who continue to provide financial advice, but aren’t taking part in brokerage activities—nor are they associating with FINRA members—are not necessarily behaving unethically, SSEK Broker Misconduct Attorney Edwards believes there is a lack of oversight over expelled financial advisors. He recommends wider regulation because there are those that continue to engage in misconduct.

Why Should You Work With Our Seasoned SSEK Broker Misconduct Attorney?

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas SSEK Broker Misconduct Attorney Teams (investorlawyers.com) represent investors who have sustained losses caused by stockbroker fraud or negligence. There are financial advisors whose misconduct or carelessness played a part in an investor’s losses that could have been avoided. You want to work with skilled securities lawyers who know how to fight for you and can maximize your chances for a full recovery.

Even if the broker responsible for your losses was barred from the industry, there are statutes of limitations that could allow you to file a FINRA lawsuit seeking damages from the broker-dealer where they were a registered representative.

We have been fighting for investors for decades. Thousands of our clients have collectively obtained full or partial financial recovery resulting from:

• Unsuitable investment recommendations
• Concentration
• Selling away
• Churning
• Excessive trading
• Due diligence failures
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Failure to supervise
• Negligence
• Gross negligence
• Misappropriation
• And more.

Call (800) 259-9010 or contact us online.