Securities Lawyers Blog
According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Robert Knutson (Knutson), previously associated with Morgan Stanley, has been subject to at least one disclosable event. These events include one customer complaint. Several of those complaints against Knutson concern allegations of high frequency trading activity also referred to as churning or excessive trading among other securities laws violations.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $44,015,038.00 on July 11, 2023.
Claimants allege, inter alia, Excessive trading with respect to investments – 2013 to 2022
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. The account could frequently “turnover” entirely within a short timer with new securities. The sole purpose of this kind of investment trading activity in a client’s account is to generate commissions that benefit the broker, not the investor. Churning is regarded as a specific category of securities fraud. The claim consists of: an excessive number of securities transactions, broker control over the account, and fraudulent intent to obtain unlawful commissions from the investor. 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.
According to newsources, a study revealed that 7.3% of financial advisors had a customer complaint on their record when records from 2005 to 2015 were examined. Brokers must publicly disclose reportable events on their BrokerCheck reports that include customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, terminations, and criminal cases. In addition, research has shown a disturbing pattern with troublesome brokers where brokers with high numbers of customer complaints are not kicked out of the industry but instead these brokers are sifted to lower quality brokerage firms with loose hiring practices and higher rates of customer complaints. These lower quality firms may average brokers with five times as many complaints as the industry average.
Knutson has been in the securities industry for more than 48 years. Knutson has been registered as a Broker with Morgan Stanley since 2013.
Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. At Gana Weinstein LLP, our attorneys are experienced representing investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts. Claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.