Securities Lawyers Blog
Our firm is investigating claims made by regulators and brokerage firms including LPL Financial LLC (LPL Financial) concerning broker Paul Dorion (Dorion). Dorion is currently not associated with any brokerage firm due to his bar by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) in October 2016 for failing to response to the regulator’s request for information.
FINRA’s investigation likely revolves around the disclosures concerning Dorion’s termination from LPL Financial in October 2015. At that time Dorion was terminated for cause alleging that the broker engaged in unauthorized trading, violation of firm’s document signature policy, and concerns regarding concentrated equity positions in client accounts. Doriaon was also alleged to have failed to respond to inquiries from the firm’s compliance department. Subsequently, in October 2016 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Dorion had excessively traded her account which contained funds from a home mortgage. The complaint is currently pending. Dorion also has several tax liens dating from 2010 through 2015.
Dorion entered the securities industry in 1983. From November 1992 until October 2015, Dorion was associated with LPL Financial out of the firm’s Killington, Vermont office location. Dorion also does business as Dorion Associates.
Brokers in the financial industry have the fundamental responsibility to treat investors fairly. This obligation includes making only suitable investments for their client. The suitable analysis has certain requirements that must be met before the recommendation is made. First, there must be reasonable basis for the recommendation for the investment based upon the broker’s and the firm’s investigation and due diligence. Common due diligence looks into the investment’s properties including its benefits, risks, tax consequences, the issuer, the likelihood of success or failure of the investment, and other relevant factors. Second, if there is a reasonable basis to recommend the product to investors the broker then must match the investment as being appropriate for the customer’s specific investment needs and objectives. These factors include the client’s age, investment experience, retirement status, long or short term goals, tax status, or any other relevant factor.
The number of events listed on Dorion’s 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. Brokers must publicly disclose certain types of reportable events on their CRD including but not limited to customer complaints. In addition to disclosing client disputes brokers must divulge IRS tax liens, judgments, and criminal matters. However, FINRA’s records are not always complete according to a Wall Street Journal story that checked with 26 state regulators and found that at least 38,400 brokers had regulatory or financial red flags such as a personal bankruptcy that showed up in state records but not on BrokerCheck. More disturbing is the fact that 19,000 out of those 38,400 brokers had spotless BrokerCheck 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.