Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley Sued for Unsuitable Recommendations Over Harvest Volatility Strategy, MLPs and Other Complex Investments Made To A Texas Investor

Published on: May 18, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Brokerage Firm Made Unsuitable Investment Recommendations to An Inexperienced Investor

Our brokerage firm fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) have filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration against Morgan Stanley on behalf of an elderly Dallas, Texas investor.

The investor in question sustained over $500K in losses due to the unsuitable recommendations of structured products, Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), other oil and gas equities, and investments governed by Harvest Volatility Management’s Collateral Yield Enhancement Strategy (CYES).

Citigroup, LPL Financial, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Securities, and Merrill Lynch Fined $1.4M for Failure to Reasonably Supervise

Published on: March 2, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Broker-Dealers Accused of Not Properly Supervising Custodial Accounts

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that it has fined five major firms $1.4M in total for not reasonably supervising custodial accounts. The broker-dealers are:

Citigroup (C), which will pay $300K.

Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker Elias Hafen Sentenced To Prison For Investment Fraud

Published on: February 13, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker Sentenced To 30 Months

Please contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) if Elias Herbert Hafen, a former Morgan Stanley (MS) and Wells Fargo (WFC) broker, was your financial representative when you suffered substantial investment losses that you think may be due to fraud. Hafen is sentenced to 30 months in prison for defrauding former clients of over $1.6M.

The prison term comes after Hafen pleaded guilty to investment advisor fraud. Prosecutors contend that Hafen sought to defraud 11 retail customers, between 2011 until 2018, by making them think he had access to a high-yield fund that would bring them guaranteed investment returns.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker John Cahill

Published on: January 10, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

FINRA Bars Former Morgan Stanley Representative

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has barred former Morgan Stanley broker, John Joseph Cahill. The ex-registered representative, who was fired from Janney Montgomery Scott early last year, is accused of potentially converting and/or misappropriating an elderly client’s funds while he was at Morgan Stanley.

John Cahill Is Accused of Elder Investor Fraud

Morgan Stanley Pays $182K to Clients of Ex-Broker Justin Amaral

Published on: November 5, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Morgan Stanley Ordered To Pay Over $300K In Fines And Restitution

Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, William Galvin, is ordering Morgan Stanley (MS) to pay a $200K fine, as well as $182K in restitution to four customers who suffered losses while working with former broker Justin E. Amaral.

The ex-Morgan Stanley financial advisor was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in 2015.

Ex-Texas Broker With Morgan Stanley and Ameriprise Fined Over Allegedly Unauthorized Trades

Published on: October 28, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined former Texas broker Steven Yellen $25K for allegedly making unauthorized trades while he was a registered representative for both Ameriprise (AMP) and Morgan Stanley (MS). The self-regulatory authority (SRO) notes at least 30 instances in which Yellen executed trades without customer authorization.

After more than 30 years in the industry, he is no longer affiliated with any broker-dealer after Ameriprise fired him last year. According to FINRA, from 3/2013 to 12/2015, Yellen made 14 unauthorized trades while he was a Morgan Stanley broker, exercising unauthorized discretion in a client’s account. Meantime, when filling out compliance questionnaires, he neglected to disclose these activities.

In 2016, after 32 years with Morgan Stanley, Steven Yellen became an Ameriprise broker. During this time, he allegedly made 16 unauthorized trades in 10 customer accounts. These trades went beyond these customers’ risk levels that they’d authorized.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Investor Claims Involving ex-Morgan Stanley Brokers Ami Forte and Charles Lawrence

Published on: October 24, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SSEK Investigating The Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker, Ami Forte

Earlier this year, our investor lawyers reported that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) had filed a lawsuit against former Morgan Stanley broker, Ami Forte. She allegedly made unauthorized trades in the now-deceased Home Shopping Network co-founder, Roy Speer’s, account while he was afflicted with dementia.

The self-regulatory authority has now announced that it is barring Forte. Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) are currently investigating complaints and concerns by former customers of Ami Forte who are suspecting that their losses may be due to fraud.

Three Ex-Morgan Stanley Brokers Accused of Broker Misconduct

Published on: October 7, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Misconduct Accusations Against Ex-Morgan Stanley Brokers

Broker Misconduct Case #1: John Tillotson

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has suspended ex-Morgan Stanley broker, John Tillotson, for 15 days and ordered him to pay a $5K fine after finding that he impersonated five clients during phone calls to a mutual fund company. This was so he could move their retirement money to the firm.

Ex-Morgan Stanley Broker Pleads Guilty to Investment Adviser Fraud

Published on: September 10, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

A Former Morgan Stanley (MS) broker who was barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) last year has pleaded guilty to defrauding his clients of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Elias Herbert Hafen was a registered Morgan Stanley rep. from 2009 until 2018 and then briefly went to work for Wells Fargo Clearing Services. According to his BrokerCheck record, Wells Fargo (WFC) fired him after just several months because he had financial agreements with clients that the firm never approved.

A news release of Hafen’s guilty plea on Justice.gov states that between 2013 and 2018, Hafen defrauded at least 11 financial advisory clients by fooling them into thinking he was able to access a high yield investment fund that came with guaranteed investment returns. This fund, however, was not affiliated with the investment bank where Hafen was a registered broker. In fact, it did not exist.

Because of Hafen’s investment advice, a number of his clients moved hundreds of thousands of dollars to his own bank account, from where he was supposed to invest in the fund. Instead, he generated fake bank statements using the name of an investment company that didn’t exist and, rather than use investors’ funds as intended, Hafen spent their money to fund his luxury lifestyle.

CYES Strategy Investments Prove Too Risky for Investors

Published on: July 15, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Over the last several months, it has come to light that brokers from some of the largest firms on Wall Street firms sold Collateral Yield Investment Strategies (CYES Strategies) that may not have been suitable for many investors, causing them to suffer devastating losses. Offered through registered investment adviser Harvest Volatility Management, LLC, the CYES Strategy is a type of Yield Investment Strategy (YES Strategy), only even more risky and complex.

YES Strategy Investments

Reportedly, UBS (UBS), Credit Suisse (CS), Bank of America’s (BAC) Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley (MS), and other brokerage firms brokers sold YES Strategies to many wealthy investors, touting the approach as safe way to increase returns on conservative portfolios. These were supposed to be small returns at a low risk, using a strategic approach that involved the purchasing and selling of SPX index options spreads.