Articles Tagged with Laidlaw

shutterstock_102217105-300x200According to BrokerCheck records financial advisor John Busco (Busco), currently employed by Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. (Laidlaw) and previously with Morgan Stanley has been subject to at least 11 customer complaints and one regulatory action during the course of his career.  According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Busco’s customer complaints allege that Busco recommended unsuitable securities recommendations in a variety of products including alternative investments among other allegations of misconduct in the handling of customer accounts.

In March 2019 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Busco violated the securities laws by, among other things, that Busco made unsuitable investments in alternative investments from 2009 through 2018 causing damages.  The claim is currently pending.

In April 2011 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Busco violated the securities laws by, among other things, that Busco made unsuitable investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac causing $120,000 in damages.  The claim settled for $40,000.

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shutterstock_112866430-300x199According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Peter Viglione (Viglione) has been subject to at least four customer complaints during his career.  Viglione is currently employed by Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. (Laidlaw).  The majority of the customer complaints against Viglione concern allegations of high frequency trading activity also referred to as churning.

In May 2018 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Viglione violated the securities laws by, among other things, that Viglione’s activities from 2015 through 2017 caused $20,179 in damages.  The claim settled.

In May 2018 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Viglione violated the securities laws by, among other things, that Viglione engaged in unauthorized trading and excessive trading from 2015 through 2016 caused $200,000 in damages.  The claim is currently pending.

In July 2012 a customer filed a complaint alleging that Viglione violated the securities laws by, among other things, that Viglione engaged in unauthorized trading, excessive trading, and misrepresentations causing $780,000 in damages.  The claim was settled for $125,000.

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shutterstock_130706948-300x199According to BrokerCheck records financial advisor Philip Rosensweig (Rosensweig), currently employed by WestPark Capital, Inc. (WestPark Capital) has been subject to at least ten customer complaints.  According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), most of Rosensweig’s customer complaints allege that Rosensweig made unsuitable recommendations in a variety of securities.

In March 2016 a customer brought a complaint against Rosensweig alleging the broker violated the securities laws by breaching his fiduciary duty, negligence, and fraud from 2015 through 2016.  The claim alleged $100,000 in damages and settled.

In March 2016 a customer brought a complaint against Rosensweig alleging the broker violated the securities laws by breaching his fiduciary duty, negligence, and fraud from 2014 through 2016.  The claim alleged $75,000 in damages and settled.

In October 2006 a customer brought a complaint against Rosensweig alleging the broker violated the securities laws by making unauthorized trades.  The claim alleged $10,000 in damages and settled.

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shutterstock_85873471-300x200According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial advisor Osbert Haynes (Haynes), currently employed by Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. (Laidlaw), has been subject to two customer complaints, one regulatory action, and six tax liens or judgments.  Most of a Haynes’ customer complaints allege that Haynes made unsuitable recommendations.

In addition, Haynes is subject to large tax liens and civil judgments totaling tens of thousands of dollars.  In September 2014 Haynes disclosed a civil judgment of over $19,000.  The fact that a broker cannot manage his own personal finances is material information for a client to consider.  In addition, an advisor with poor personal finances may be incentivized to sell unsuitable or high commission products that may be recommended to generate high profits for the advisor at the expense of the client.

In August 2017 a customer made allegations unsuitable recommendations and unauthorized trading from 2011 to 2012. The claim alleged $163,886 in damages and is currently pending.

shutterstock_85873471The securities fraud lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) against broker James Flower (Flower).  According to BrokerCheck records Flower has been the subject of at least four customer complaints and one bankruptcy that was disclosed in January 2016.  The customer complaints against Flower allege a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, excessive use of margin, and churning (excessive trading) among other claims.

When brokers engage in excessive trading, sometimes referred to as churning, the broker will typical trade in and out of securities, sometimes even the same stock, many times over a short period of time.  Often times the account will completely “turnover” every month with different securities.  This type of investment trading activity in the client’s account serves no reasonable purpose for the investor and is engaged in only to profit the broker through the generation of commissions created by the trades.  Churning is considered a species of securities fraud.  The elements of the claim are excessive transactions of securities, broker control over the account, and intent to defraud the investor by obtaining unlawful commissions.  A similar claim, excessive trading, under FINRA’s suitability rule involves just the first two elements.  Certain commonly used measures and ratios used to determine churning help evaluate a churning claim.  These ratios look at how frequently the account is turned over plus whether or not the expenses incurred in the account made it unreasonable that the investor could reasonably profit from the activity.

An examination of Flower’s employment history reveals that Flower 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 Flower’s 18 year career he has worked at least 15 different firms.  What’s more astonishing is that seven of those firm’s have been expelled from the industry by FINRA and in many instances for securities laws violations for mistreating their customers.

shutterstock_188606033The securities fraud lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints filed with The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) against broker Joel Benanti (Benanti). According to BrokerCheck records Benanti has been the subject of at least eight customer complaints. The customer complaints against Benanti allege a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, unauthorized trading, and churning (excessive trading) among other claims.

The most recent complaint was filed in March 2015 and alleged churning and unsuitable trades from April 2013 through April 2014 causing $35,595 in damages. The complaint was settled.

When brokers engage in excessive trading, sometimes referred to as churning, the broker will typical trade in and out of securities, sometimes even the same stock, many times over a short period of time. Often times the account will completely “turnover” every month with different securities. This type of investment trading activity in the client’s account serves no reasonable purpose for the investor and is engaged in only to profit the broker through the generation of commissions created by the trades. Churning is considered a species of securities fraud. The elements of the claim are excessive transactions of securities, broker control over the account, and intent to defraud the investor by obtaining unlawful commissions. A similar claim, excessive trading, under FINRA’s suitability rule involves just the first two elements. Certain commonly used measures and ratios used to determine churning help evaluate a churning claim. These ratios look at how frequently the account is turned over plus whether or not the expenses incurred in the account made it unreasonable that the investor could reasonably profit from the activity.

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