RBC Capital

Wedbush Advisor David Hirons Has Suitability Customer Complaints

April 9, 2021 | by Staff Attorney

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial advisor David Hirons (Hirons), currently employed by Wedbush Securities Inc. (Wedbush Securities), has been subject to at least four customer complaints and one termination for cause during the course of his career. Hirons’s customer complaints alleges that Hirons recommended unsuitable investments in various investments including equities, futures funds, and options.

In April 2018 Hirons was discharged by RBC Capital Markets, LLC when the firm alleged that he was terminated for violating the firm’s order execution policy.

In August 2019 a customer complained that Hirons violated the securities laws by alleging that Hirons made investments recommendations that the client alleges involved options trading from June 2018 until December 2018 resulted in liquidations and losing funds. The claim alleged $712,080 in damages and settled for $65,000.

Former Broker Martin Olson Accused of Violating Securities Law

January 23, 2018 | by Staff Attorney

The investment attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating a customer complaint brought against former RBC Capital Broker Martin Olson. According to BrokerCheck Records kept by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Olson was subject to a customer complaint in December 2016.

In December 2016, Olson was named in a customer complaint that asserted breach of fiduciary duty, violation of the Michigan Securities Act and fraud. Olson was found jointly and severally liable and the customer was awarded $250,000 in damages.

The term “securities fraud” covers a range of illegal activities involving the deception of investors or the manipulation of the financial markets. Fraud includes false representations, unauthorized trading, value manipulation, and Ponzi schemes. Investors are protected against fraudulent securities activities by several different civil laws.

Broker Louis Frederick Scherschel Subject To Customer Complaint

May 23, 2017 | by Staff Attorney

The securities and investment lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating a customer complaint and an employment separation after allegations filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) again broker Louis Frederick Scherschel (Scherschel). According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck records for Scherschel, there is a disclosure on his record for a customer complaint that resulted in arbitration. In October 2015, a customer complaint alleged that Scherschel made unsuitable sales of leveraged EFTs and failed to follower the customer’s instructions to implement sell stops. The original requested damages amount was $500,000 and the case was settled in September 2016 for $295,000.

In September 2015, Scherschel was discharged from his position at Sigma Financial Corporation for failing to comply with the company’s correspondence policy for leveraged ETFs.

Scherschel entered the securities industry in 2009. He was previously registered with:

Broker Investigation: Customer Complaints Against RBC Capital Broker David Peirce

August 26, 2015 | by Staff Attorney

According to the BrokerCheck records kept by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker David Peirce (Peirce) has been the subject of at least four customer complaints. The customer complaints against Peirce allege a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, churning (excessive trading), among other claims..

Peirce entered the securities industry in 1989. From April 2004, until February 2009, Peirce was registered with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (Morgan Stanley). From June 2009 onward Peirce was associated with RBC Capital Markets, LLC (RBC).

All advisers have a fundamental responsibility to deal fairly with investors including making suitable investment recommendations. Many of the claims against Peirce involving claims of churning and excessive trading. When brokers engage in churning the investment trading activity in the client’s account serves no reasonable purpose for the investor and is transacted to profit the broker through the generation of commission payments. The elements to establish a churning claim, which is considered a species of securities fraud, 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.