Silver Law Group Investigates Former Illinois Morgan Stanley Broker Terminated for Outside Business Activities

Silver Law Group is investigating former Deerfield, Illinois-based Morgan Stanley Smith Barney broker Brian C. Sak (CRD# 3259830) after he was terminated for allegations that he placed customers in unapproved investments.

According to Sak’s FINRA BrokerCheck Report, he was terminated on May 17, 2016 by Morgan Stanley (CRD# 149777) due to concerns related to outside real estate investments with a client that was not appropriately disclosed to Morgan Stanley.

Additionally, Sak’s has two other disclosures in the form of FINRA arbitrations.  The FINRA arbitrations, like Morgan Stanley, allege that Sak recommended investing in outside real estate investment opportunities.  In total, the two FINRA arbitrations allege $600,000 in damages.

Sak, who was employed by Morgan Stanley from 2008 to 2016 at its Deerfield, Illinois branch, is no longer licensed by FINRA.

The term “selling away” is used when a broker sells or solicits the sale of securities that are not held or offered by the brokerage firm he or she is associated.  Usually, the investments sought to be sold by the rogue broker are not approved by the employing firm and are private placements or other alternative investments.

This is an important issue, as our firm sees many cases in which brokerage firms allege they conducted due diligence and the due diligence conducted was inadequate.  In the cases of selling away, you have a rogue broker selling an investment that was either not vetted at all by the employing brokerage firm or was vetted and determined unsuitable for the brokerage firm’s customer base.

Brokers and brokerage firms have a duty to recommend suitable investments to their customers.  This entails ensuring the investment is generally suitable for investment purposes and also suitable for the particular investor, factoring age, investment goal, and other factors.

On top of the duty to recommend suitable investments, a brokerage firm has a duty to supervise its brokers.  The brokerage firm is responsible for the actions of its brokers.

FINRA arbitration is a fast, efficient way to recover your lost investment funds.  We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay us nothing unless we win and recover money for you.

If you have invested with Brian Sak and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and have lost money doing so, you may be able to recover some or all of your losses.  Our lawyers are experienced in recovering investor losses due to broker and brokerage firm misconduct through FINRA arbitration.

Silver Law Group represents the interests of investors who have been the victims of investment fraud.  If you have questions about your legal rights, please contact Scott Silver of the Silver Law Group for a free consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll free at (800) 975-4345.