Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker German Nino (Nino), previously associated with UBS Financial Services INC., has at least 2 disclosable events. These events include one customer complaint, one regulatory event, alleging that Nino recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on June 27, 2022.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (‘Commission’) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted pursuant to Section 15(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘Exchange Act’) and Section 203(f) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (‘Advisers Act’) against German Nino (‘Nino’ or ‘Respondent’). The Commission finds that on May 31, 2022, a judgment was entered by consent against Nino permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (‘Securities Act’), Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Advisers Act, in the civil action entitled Securities and Exchange Commission v. German Nino, Civil Action Number 0:22-cv-60162, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The Commission’s complaint alleged, among other things, that from approximately May 2014 to February 2020, Nino misappropriated approximately $5.8 million from one of his long-standing advisory clients. Nino represented that he would invest all of the client’s funds in securities, but instead used some of the funds for personal expenses, namely for gifts and travel and living expenses for women with whom he had romantic relationships. He also used a portion of the client’s funds to fully repay another client from whom he had previously misappropriated funds. To conceal his fraud, Nino created and provided the client with fictitious account statements purporting to show the client’s investment portfolio and related balances. Nino also manipulated UBS’s records to ensure that the client did not receive notifications for wire transfers out of one of the client’s accounts. In order to effectuate larger fraudulent transfers, Nino forged the client’s signature on letters of authorization.