Securities Lawyers Blog
Our investment attorneys are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against financial advisor Guy Deemer (Deemer) currently registered with IFS Securities, alleging excessive trading or churning and unauthorized trading among other claims. According to brokercheck records Deemer has been subject to six customer complaints, two regulatory actions, and one employment termination for cause.
In September 2015 Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (Oppenheimer) terminated Deemer after alleging that he failed to follow management’s directions when he failed to move accounts from transaction based to fee based.
In July 2014 a customer filed a complaint alleging excessive trading activity from July 2009 through December 2013. The customer alleged $300,000 in damages. The claim was settled for $115,000.
The type of claims being made against Deemer are often associated with claims of excessive trading or churning. When brokers engage in excessive trading the broker will typically trade in and out of securities, sometimes even the same stock, many times over a short period of time. Often times the account will completely “turnover” every month with different securities. Many brokers who engage in churning will not take the time to explain to the investor the exact reasons for the transactions and will provide vague and general responses to requests for information such as this is the strategy we are pursuing.
Churning investment trading activity in a client’s account serves no reasonable purpose for the investor and is engaged in only to profit the broker through the generation of commissions. Churning is considered a type of securities fraud. The elements of the claim are excessive transactions of securities, broker control over the account, and intent to defraud the investor by obtaining unlawful commissions. A similar claim, excessive trading, under FINRA’s suitability rule involves just the first two elements. Certain commonly used measures and ratios used to determine churning help evaluate a churning claim. These ratios look at how frequently the account is turned over plus whether or not the expenses incurred in the account made it unreasonable that the investor could reasonably profit from the activity.
Deemer entered the securities industry in 1994. From July 2007 through November 2009 Deemer was associated with Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated. From December 2009 until September 2015 Deemer was associated with Oppenheimer. Since September 2015 Deemer has been associated with IFS Securities out of the firm’s Atlanta, Georgia office location.
The number of events listed on Deemer brokercheck is high relative to his peers. According to InvestmentNews, only about 12% of financial advisors have any type of disclosure event on their records.
Gana Weinstein LLP’s securities fraud attorneys represent investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts due to claims of fraud and negligence. The majority of these claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.