Churning

David Strnad, a longtime broker, has been suspended by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for 18 months. According to his BrokerCheck record, in 2016, the daughter of a client accused Strnad of churning in her father’s account while he was a registered Morgan Stanley representative. Following the allegations, FINRA opened a probe into the matter.

The self-regulatory authority (FINRA) found that Strnad made over 270 trades involving CDs in the account of one elderly customer between 2013 and 2015. While the client had given the former Morgan Stanley broker permission to purchase the CDs, Strnad allegedly exceeded the authority granted to him when he sold the CDs before they matured and used the money made from those transactions to purchase more CDs for the client.

As a result, said FINRA, the client ended up paying nearly $4300 commissions that were not warranted. Morgan Stanley has since paid that money back to the client.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has barred ex-JP Turner & Co. broker Anthony Mastroianni Jr. for allegedly churning an account belonging to an older customer. Mastroianni has not denied or admitted to the regulator’s findings and he did not appear in front of FINRA to provide testimony in this case.

According to the regulator, from ’11 to ’13, Mastroianni took part in churning or excessive trading in the account of this customer, which was maintained at JP Turner and later at Alexander Capital when the broker was affiliated with the brokerage firms. He also allegedly borrowed $90K from the same customer and made another four transactions without letting either JP Turner or Alexander Capital know and/or getting their approval.

Mastroianni’s BrokerCheck reports notes that there are seven disclosure events in which he has been named, including two customer disputes that are still pending.

Articles Tagged with Churning

Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker Suspended Over Alleged Churning

FINRA Bars Ex-JP Turner Broker For Elder Financial Fraud