Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Christopher Kennedy (Kennedy), previously associated with Western International Securities, Inc., has at least 2 disclosable events. These events include 2 regulatory, alleging that Kennedy recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on January 23, 2025.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (‘Commission’) deems it appropriate and in the public interest that public administrative proceedings be, and hereby are, instituted against Christopher Booth Kennedy (‘Kennedy’ or ‘Respondent’). In anticipation of the institution of these proceedings, Respondent has submitted an Offer of Settlement which the Commission has determined to accept. The commission finds that On January 10, 2024, a final judgment was entered by consent against Kennedy, permanently enjoining him from future violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (‘Securities Act’) and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rules 10b-5 and 15l-1(a)(1) thereunder, as set forth in the judgment entered in the civil action entitled Securities and Exchange Commission v. Christopher Booth Kennedy, Civil Action Number 2:24-CV-10608, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The Commission’s complaint alleged that Kennedy made false and misleading statements regarding the value and success of his trading strategy, and sent one customer falsified account statements. In addition, the complaint alleged that between July 2020 and July 2021, Kennedy recommended a short-term, high-volume investment strategy in nineteen retail customer brokerage accounts without a reasonable basis that exceeded $363 million in total transactions, resulting in over $9 million in customers losses. The nineteen retail customer brokerage accounts paid approximately $1.277 million in total commissions, $958,134 of which was paid to Kennedy. As a result of the high volume of recommended transactions and their attendant commissions, it would have been virtually impossible for these retail customers to achieve a positive return in their brokerage accounts.