Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Scott Hananel (Hananel), previously associated with Aegis Capital Corp., has at least 4 disclosable events. These events include 3 customer complaints, one regulatory event, alleging that Hananel recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on March 29, 2022.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Hananel consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he engaged in excessive and unsuitable trading in customer accounts. The findings stated that because Hananel decided which stocks to trade in his customers\\u2019 accounts and when to trade them, and exercised discretionary authority in connection with some of the trades in the accounts, he controlled the volume and frequency of trading in, and therefore exercised de facto control over, his customers\\u2019 accounts. Hananel\\u2019s short term trading in the customers\\u2019 accounts was excessive and unsuitable given the customers\\u2019 investment profiles, generating significant losses and trading costs in the form of commissions, markups and markdowns. In total, the customers, some of whom were senior citizens, paid commissions and trading costs of $1,473,118.00 and incurred losses of $2,103,176. The findings also stated that Hananel exercised discretionary trading authority in customer accounts without having obtained prior written authorization from the customers or approval from his member firm to treat the accounts as discretionary.