Former Clearwater, Florida Broker Alleged Unsuitable Recommendations

Silver Law Group is investigating former Clearwater, Florida broker Dennis M. Merritt (CRD# 1748115) after FINRA suspended him for four months and his employing firm terminated him for alleged unsuitable recommendations among other things.

In March 2016, FINRA and Merritt entered into an order accepting offer of settlement (the “Order”). The Order accepted the punishment without admitting or denying the allegations in the Complaint.

The Complaint alleged that Merritt invested a total of $115,000 in a speculative investment without providing written notice to his member firm prior to participating in the private securities transactions.

The Complaint alleged that Merritt recommended this unsuitable, speculative investment without conducting adequate due diligence on it and without a reasonable basis to believe it was suitable for any customer while at Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC. Additionally, the Complaint alleged that Merritt falsely represented in an annual certification to his firm that he was complying with its policy prohibiting representatives from participating in private securities transactions.

FINRA sanctioned Merritt and suspended him for four months.

Proceeding the FINRA sanctions, Merritt’s employing firm, J.W. Cole Financial, Inc. (CRD# 124583), terminated Merritt stating that “the firm is uncomfortable supervising the representative based upon the recent findings in the FINRA enforcement action,” according to Merritt’s FINRA BrokerCheck report.

Merritt has been in the industry for 27 years and has bounced around many different firms in that time. In those 27 years, Merritt has been employed by 11 different firms. He most recently has been employed at J.W. Cole since 2013 up until his termination, Cetera Investment Services LLC (CRD# 15340) from August 2013 to October 2013, and Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC (CRD# 19616) from June 2009 to May 2013.

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 often 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 Dennis M. Merritt and J.W. Cole Financial, Inc., Cetera Investment Services LLC, or Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC 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.