Securities Lawyers Blog

FINRA Sanctions Broker Gregory Gassoso Over Unauthorized Trades

September 25, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctioned (FINRA AWC No. 2013039506601) broker Gregory Gassoso (Gassoso) on allegations that in April 2013, Gassoso effected three unauthorized transactions in a customer’s account, resulting in a loss of approximately $1,500. In addition to FINRA’s recent action Gassoso has been the subject of at least five customer complaints and two other regulatory matters over the course of his career. Customers have filed complaints against Gassoso alleging securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, unauthorized trades, and poor investment advice among other claims.

Gassoso entered the securities industry in 1997. From September 2001, until June 2012, Gassoso was a registered representative with DPEC Capital, Inc. (DPEC). From August 2012, until January 2015, Gassoso was associated with National Securities Corporation. Finally, from February 2015 until September 2015, Gassoso was again associated with DPEC out of its New York, New York office location.

Gassoso has a disciplinary history including prior regulatory claims of unauthorized trading. Gassoso has been the subject of two prior FINRA disciplinary actions for unauthorized activity including a May 2003, action where he was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with a FINRA for ten days for opening accounts for customers without their knowledge or authorization. In another incident in June 2005, Gassoso was fined $6,000 and suspended for 60 days from association with a FINRA member for unauthorized trading in customer accounts.

Churning Claims Against Rockwell Global Broker Michael Capolongo

September 23, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Michael Capolongo (Capolongo) has been the subject of at least two customer complaints and one criminal matter over the course of his career. Customers have filed complaints against Capolongo alleging securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments and churning among other claims.

An examination of Capolongo’s employment history reveals that Capolongo moves from troubled firm to troubled firm. The pattern of brokers moving in this way is sometimes called “cockroaching” within the industry. See More Than 5,000 Stockbrokers From Expelled Firms Still Selling Securities, The Wall Street Journal, (Oct. 4, 2013). In Capolongo’s six year career he has worked at eight different firms returning to one firm on three separate occasions. Many of the firms have been expelled by FINRA including John Thomas Financial which was run by Anastasios “Tommy” Belesis who recently agreed to be banned from the securities industry when the SEC accused him of defrauding investors in two hedge funds. In addition, John Thomas faced allegations of penny-stock fraud by FINRA after the firm reaped more than $100 million in commissions over its six-year history before it closed in July. According to new sources trainees at the firm earned as little as $300 a week to pitch stocks with memorized scripts.

Since 2009 Capolongo has been registered with John Thomas Financial, New Castle Financial Services LLC, EKN Financial Services Inc., National Securities Corporation, and Laidlaw & Company (UK) LTD. Since September 2014, Capolongo has been associated with Rockwell Global Capital LLC out of their Melville, New York office.

Broker Investigation: Churning Claims Against Broker Ahmad “Kevin” Wares

September 21, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Ahmad “Kevin” Wares (Wares) has been the subject of at least seven customer complaints one employment separation, and one judgment/lien over the course of his career. Customers have filed complaints against Wares alleging a litany of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, unauthorized trades, churning, negligence, failure to follow instructions, and misrepresentations among other claims.

An examination of Wares’s employment history reveals that Wares moves from troubled firm to troubled firm. The pattern of brokers moving in this way is sometimes called “cockroaching” within the industry. See More Than 5,000 Stockbrokers From Expelled Firms Still Selling Securities, The Wall Street Journal, (Oct. 4, 2013). In Wares’ 15 year career he has worked at 7 different firms of which four have been expelled from FINRA. Since 2008 Wares has been registered with New Castle Financial Services LLC, First Midwest Securities, Inc., and EKN Financial Services Inc. Since September 2012, Wares has been associated with Laidlaw & Company (UK) LTD.

Advisors are not allowed to engage in unauthorized trading. Such trading occurs when a broker sells securities without the prior authority from the investor. The broker must first discuss all trades with the investor before executing them under NYSE Rule 408(a) and FINRA Rules 2510(b). These rules explicitly prohibit brokers from making discretionary trades in a customers’ non-discretionary accounts. The SEC has also found that unauthorized trading to be fraudulent nature.

FINRA Bars Former PFS Investments Broker Malcolm Babin From the Industry

September 20, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) barred (FINRA AWC No. 20150454876-01) former PFS Investments, Inc. (PFS Investments) broker Malcolm Babin (Babin) after the broker failed to respond to a letter from the regulator requesting information. While BrokerCheck records kept by FINRA do not disclose the nature of the regulatory inquiry, in May 2015, Babin was permitted to resign from PFS Investments stating that the broker was terminated for 1 being involved in a misappropriation; 2) unlicensed security solicitation, and 3) an undisclosed outside business activity and potentially a private securities transaction – also referred to in the industry as “selling away.”

Babin entered the securities industry in 2007 with PFS Investments as a Series 6 broker. A Series 6 license only allows the broker to solicit variable contracts and open-end mutual funds and does not allow the broker to solicit general securities. FINRA alleged that on July 7, 2015 FINRA was investigating allegations that Babin converted customer funds and engaged in undisclosed outside business activities. FINRA requested that Babin provide documents and information by July 14, 2015. The regulatory stated that they received an email from Babin acknowledging receipt of FINRA’s requests for documents but informed staff that he would not cooperate. Consequently, the regulator barred Babin from the securities industry.

The conduct alleged against Babin constitutes a potential “selling away” securities violations. In the industry the term selling away refers to when a financial advisor solicits investments in companies, promissory notes, or other securities that are not pre-approved by the broker’s affiliated firm. However, even though when these incidents occur the brokerage firm claims ignorance of their advisor’s activities the firm is obligated under the FINRA rules to properly monitor and supervise its employees in order to detect and prevent brokers from offering investments in this fashion. In order to properly supervise their brokers each firm is required to have procedures in order to monitor the activities of each advisor’s activities and interaction with the public. Selling away misconduct often occurs where brokerage firms either fail to put in place a reasonable supervisory system or fail to actually implement that system. Supervisory failures allow brokers to engage in unsupervised misconduct that can include all manner improper conduct including selling away.

Broker Spotlight: Cantone Research’s Raymond DeRobbio

September 19, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Raymond DeRobbio (DeRobbio) has been the subject of seven customer complaints and one regulatory action. The customer complaints against DeRobbio allege that the broker made unsuitable investments concerning certain bonds that defaulted. The regulatory complaint against DeRobbio was initiated by the state of Indiana in which DeRobbio withdrew as an agent.

DeRobbio entered the securities industry in 1983 and since that time DeRobbio has been associated with over a dozen firms. Starting in June 2006 through July 2012, DeRobbio was associated with J.P. Turner & Company, L.L.C. From July 2012, until June 2013, DeRobbio was registered with Northeastern Financial Group, Incorporated. Finally, since June 2013, DeRobbio has been registered with Cantone Research Inc. out of a branch located in Tinton Falls, New Jersey.

All brokers and financial advisers have an obligation to their customers to deal with them in a fair manner. That obligation includes making suitable investment recommendations. In order to make suitable recommendations the broker must have a reasonable basis for recommending the product or security based upon the broker’s investigation of the investments properties including its costs, benefits, risks, tax consequences, and other relevant factors. In addition, the broker must also understand the customer’s specific investment objectives to determine whether or not the specific product or security being recommended is appropriate for the customer based upon their needs.

Cape Securities, Inc. Fined $125,000 for Failure to Supervise

September 18, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

On May 5, 2015, the brokerage firm Cape Securities, Inc. (“Cape”) was fined $125,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for failing to supervise its personnel, in effect allowing its brokers to recommend unsuitable investments and churn customer accounts.

According to the Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC), for a sixteen-month period, spanning October 2011 through February 2013, Cape’s supervisory system and written supervisory procedures, pertaining to the review of actively traded accounts, failed to adequately address and identify numerous items. According to FINRA, Cape’s supervisory policies and procedures failed to address (1) the process by which transactions are reviewed, (2) risks in customer accounts, and (3) methods by which Cape conducted its suitability analysis. According to the AWC, Cape never made use of clearing firm exception reports in their review of actively traded accounts and had no written supervisory procedures relating to the monitoring of complex trading strategies.

In addition, during the period of October 2011 through September 2012, registered representatives in Cape’s Manhattan branch conducted trades in several leveraged exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) and sold covered calls to customers. This trading activity caused customer accounts to have excessive turnover ratios, which indicates churning of customer accounts. According to FINRA, Cape did not inquire into the suitability of this trading activity despite all the indications of excessive trading and its awareness of the strategies being recommended.

Broker Spotlight: Advisor Robert Batchen Unauthorized Trading Claims

September 17, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Robert Batchen (Batchen) has been the subject of at least five customer complaints, one judgement/lien, and one employment separation for cause over the course of his career. Customers have filed complaints against Batchen allege claims including that the broker made unsuitable investments, unauthorized trades, and failure to follow instructions among other claims. In addition to customer complaints, Batchen was also subject to an employment separation from Wells Fargo Advisors LLC (Wells Fargo) where the broker resigned during an internal review of allegations of unauthorized trading.

Batchen entered the securities industry in 1990. From January 2008, until September 2012, Batchen was associated with Wells Fargo. Currently, Batchen is a registered representative of Uhlmann Price Securities, LLC.

Advisors are not allowed to engage in unauthorized trading. Such trading occurs when a broker sells securities without the prior authority from the investor. The broker must first discuss all trades with the investor before executing them under NYSE Rule 408(a) and FINRA Rules 2510(b). These rules explicitly prohibit brokers from making discretionary trades in a customers’ non-discretionary accounts. The SEC has also found that unauthorized trading to be fraudulent nature.

FINRA Sanctions Broker James Madden Over Unauthorized Trades

September 16, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctioned broker James Madden (Madden) (Case No. 2014040336501) alleging that from March 2010, to February 2014, Madden exercised discretion in executing transactions in the accounts of l5 customers. FINRA found that Madden had received prior verbal authorization from his customers for the transactions but exercised his discretion in executing those transactions on future dates. FINRA found that Madden did not obtain written authorization from his customers to exercise discretion in their accounts and his brokerage firm, Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (Raymond James) did not approve the accounts for discretionary trading.

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by FINRA Madden has been the subject of at least three customer complaints, one regulatory action, and one employment termination for cause. Customers have filed complaints against Madden alleging securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments and unauthorized trades among other claims.

Madden entered the securities industry in 1983. From 1993, until April 2009, Madden was associated with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Thereafter, from March 2009, until February 2014, Madden was a registered representative with Raymond James. In February 2014, Raymond James filed a Form U5 stating that Madden’s termination was for cause and due to allegations of unauthorized trading. Finally, since February 2014, Madden has been associated with Thurston, Springer, Miller, Herd & Titak, Inc.

BestVest Investments Sanctioned Over Non-Traditional ETF Sales

September 15, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctioned (Case No. 2014038906201) brokerage firm BestVest Investments, Ltd. (BestVest) concerning allegations that from January 2012, through August 2014, BestVest failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system reasonably designed to monitor transactions in leveraged, inverse, and inverse leveraged exchange traded funds (Non-Traditional ETFs).

As a background, Non-Traditional ETFs behave drastically different and have different risk qualities from traditional ETFs. While traditional ETFs seek to mirror an index or benchmark, Non-Traditional ETFs use a combination of derivatives instruments and debt to multiply returns on underlining assets, often attempting to generate 2 to 3 times the return of the underlining asset class. Non-Traditional ETFs are also used to earn the inverse result of the return of the benchmark.

However, the risks of holding Non-Traditional ETFs go beyond merely multiplying the return on the index. Instead, Non-Traditional ETFs are generally designed to be used only for short term trading as opposed to traditional ETFs. The use of leverage employed by these funds causes their long-term values to be dramatically different than the underlying benchmark over long periods of time. For example, between December 1, 2008, and April 30, 2009, the Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index gained two percent while the ProShares Ultra Oil and Gas, a fund seeking to deliver twice the index’s daily return fell six percent. In another example, the ProShares UltraShort Oil and Gas, seeks to deliver twice the inverse of the index’s daily return fell by 26 percent over the same period.

FINRA Bars Former Stifel, Nicolaus Broker Kenneth Hornyak Over Short Term Trading

September 15, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) sanctioned and barred broker Kenneth Hornyak (Hornyak) (Case No. 2013038511901) alleging that the broker failed to respond the regulator’s requests for documents and information. FINRA’s investigation appeared to focus on claims that Hornyak engaged in potential discretionary trading, unauthorized trading, and unsuitable short-term trading in Unit Investment Trusts (UITs). On May 11, 2015, Hornyak informed FINRA that he would not appear for questioning and the regulator subsequently barred the broker.

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by FINRA Hornyak has been the subject of at least four customer complaints, one regulatory action, and two employment terminations for cause. Customers have filed complaints against Hornyak alleging a litany of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, unauthorized trades, churning, and excessive sales charges among other claims.

Hornyak entered the securities industry in 1998 with Morgan Stanley. From March 2006, until January 2014, Hornyak was associated with Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated. In January 2014, Stifel, Nicolaus terminated Hornyak for cause alleging that Hornyak was terminated because of violation of firm policies regarding exercising discretion without written authorization.