Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker William Baffuto (Baffuto), currently associated with Equitable Advisors, LLC, has at least one disclosable event. These events include one customer complaint, alleging that Baffuto recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $15,412.00 on April 20, 2022.
When your financial advisor is providing advice they must adhere to the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) rule and standard of care. Reg BI replaced the former “suitability” rule and created a ‘best interest’ standard for brokerage firms and registered representatives. This Reg BI standard of care applies to registered representatives making recommendations to customers in the purchase, sale, or exchange of securities or the implementation of investment strategies involving securities and non-securities. The rule also applies to the handling of opening accounts such as account transfers and types of accounts being recommended to be opened. This standard applies when brokers make recommendations to retail customer for any securities transaction or investment strategy involving securities, including recommendations of types of accounts.