Securities Lawyers Blog

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Nicholas Watne (Watne), currently associated with Citizens Securities, INC., has at least one disclosable event. These events include one customer complaint, alleging that Watne recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $9,950,000.00 on October 19, 2023.

This civil action stems from a dispute as to the ownership of an account at Frost Brokerage Services, Inc. (‘FBS’) (the ‘Account’). FBS placed a hold on the Account after conflicting claims of ownership were raised. The lawsuit was originally filed on March 16, 2023, by one of the purported owners of the Account (‘Purported Owner 1’), seeking declaratory relief as to Account’s proper ownership. The complaint was subsequently amended, alleging claims of conversion and theft by the other purported owners of the Account (‘Purported Owner 2’), as well as claims against FBS for wrongfully freezing the account and conspiring with the other defendants to accomplish their alleged conversion/theft. On October 19, 2023, Purported Owner 2 filed its own complaint, making similar allegations of theft against the Purported Owner 1 (the ‘October Complaint’). The October Complaint also alleges that FBS and other Frost-affiliated parties aided and abetted the alleged theft and fraudulent acts of Purported Owner 1, and that FBS employee Nicholas Watne made misrepresentations that contributed to the alleged aiding and abetting.