Securities Lawyers Blog
Our law firm represents individual and institutional investors that have been mistreated by their brokers and brokerage firms, such as MML Investors Services, LLC. Many investors do not recognize broker misconduct in their accounts, and those that do are often hesitant to seek help. Broker misconduct spans many issues that violate industry rules, including unauthorized trading, breach of fiduciary duty, unsuitable asset allocation, and churning. The attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP can analyze your accounts and investments to determine if there was misconduct in the handling of your account.
MML Investors Services, LLC is the MassMutual broker-dealer and investment adviser that provides brokerage, advisory, and wealth management services through independent financial professionals. Headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and in business since 1981, the firm has more than 1,100 offices across the United States and serves hundreds of thousands of individual and institutional clients.
MML Investors Services, LLC – By the Numbers:
- CRD #: 10409
- Regulatory Events: 27
- Arbitration Events: 1
- Broker Employees: 6,961
MML Investors Services, LLC – Investment Advisors:
- SEC #: 44264
- Assets Under Management: $115,638,239,231
- ADV Form Employee: 6,976
MML Investors Services, LLC – In the News:
FINRA v. MML Investors Services, LLC (Case #2021071346101) – From March 2017 through April 2020, MML’s supervisory system, including written supervisory procedures, was not reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the firm’s obligation to supervise consolidated reports. The firm failed to reasonably supervise the process of its representatives creating consolidated reports including the manual entry of account information using a third-party reporting system. MML also failed to detect red flags indicating that one of its registered representatives was entering fictitious brokerage accounts purportedly held at MML into the consolidated reporting system. Therefore, the firm violated FINRA Rules 3110 and 2010.
FINRA v. MML Investors Services, LLC (Case #2020065534802) – From December 2018 through February 2021, MML failed to timely amend its associated persons’ Forms U4 and Forms U5 to report 39 customer complaints and dispositions, criminal charges, regulatory actions, and other disclosable events and failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system reasonably designed to ensure the timely reporting of disclosable events during that time. By reason of the foregoing, MML violated Article V, Sections 2 and 3 of FINRA’s By-Laws and FINRA Rules 1122, 3110, and 2010.
FINRA v. MML Investors Services, LLC (Case #2019062530501) – From January 2013 to March 2017, MML failed to reasonably supervise registered representatives’ recommendations to customers to purchase particular share classes of 529 savings plans. MML did not provide adequate guidance to representatives regarding the share-class suitability factors specific to 529 plan investments when recommending 529 plans and did not provide supervisors with the information necessary to properly evaluate the suitability of 529 share-class recommendations. As a result of the foregoing, MML violated MSRB Rules G-27(a), (b) and (c). Further, from July 2016 through October 2019, MML failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system reasonably designed to identify customers’ contributions to mutual funds and 529 plans and determine whether those transactions qualified customers to take advantage of available breakpoint discounts. As a result of the foregoing, MML violated FINRA Rules 3110(a) and 2010 and MSRB Rules G-27(a) and (b). As more fully described below, the Department of Enforcement credits MML for its extraordinary cooperation. Accordingly, this AWC includes a censure and an order for restitution and estimated interest of $744,220, but no fine for the firm’s supervisory failures.
FINRA v. MML Investors Services, LLC (Case #2017056520301) – From March 2017 through March 2018 (the “Relevant Period”), MML failed to prevent certain registered and associated persons who had been terminated from the Firm from continuing to access customer records and information, including nonpublic personal information, in violation of the SEC’s Regulation S-P: Privacy of Consumer Financial Information and Safeguarding Personal Information (“Regulation S-P”) and FINRA Rule 2010.
FINRA v. MML Investors Services, LLC (Case #2016052647801) – Beginning in January 2001 and continuing to the present (the “Relevant Period”), MML failed to maintain approximately 2,400,000 electronic brokerage records in non-erasable and non-rewritable format, known as WORM format, as required by Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), Rule 17a-4(f) promulgated thereunder, NASD Rule 3110 and FINRA Rule 4511. WORM stands for “write once, read many,” and is intended to prevent the alteration or destruction of broker-dealer records stored electronically. During the Relevant Period, the Firms also experienced related notice, audit and attestation deficiencies affecting the ability to adequately retain and preserve electronic records, in violation of Exchange Act Rule 17a-4(f), NASD Rules 3110 and FINRA Rule 4511. Finally, the Firms failed to enforce written supervisory procedures relating to compliance with the WORM requirement, in violation of NASD Rule 3010(b) and FINRA Rule 3110(b).
Gana Weinstein LLP has successfully handled hundreds of customer investment disputes with their brokerage firms. Our attorneys can help you detect and uncover suspicious activity in your accounts. Our consultations are free and we welcome all inquiries.