Failure to Supervise

Silver Law Group is Investigating Joseph Alan Lavigne of Spencer Edwards, Inc.

May 17, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Silver Law Group is currently investigating Centennial, Colorado based broker Joseph Alan Lavigne regarding complaints pertaining to failure to provide due diligence to investor clients and misrepresentation.

Based on FINRA’s BrokerCheck report on Lavigne, a complaint was filed on December 4, 2017 alleging that Lavigne provided misleading information to investor clients during his employment at Spencer Edwards, Inc. The total in damages was $47,034.75.

Lavigne was previously employed at Bathgate Capital Partners LLC from 2002 to 2013. He has been employed at Spencer Edwards, Inc. from 2013 to the present.

FINRA Suspends Broker Jeffrey Paul Dragon For Excessive UIT Trading

May 4, 2018 | Silver Law Group

FINRA has suspended broker Jeffrey Paul Dragon (CRD# 1874038) for 21 months and sanctioned him $50,000 in relation to a series of customer complaints. He has since been subjected to a second customer dispute after being terminated.

Dragon was last employed by Berthel Fisher & Company Financial Services, Inc. (CRD# 13609) of Burlington, MA, from 03/02/2007 to 09/23/2016, when Berthel terminated his registration and employment.

His previous employers include:

FINRA Investigates Jason Eric Zwibel In $2.6m Customer Dispute

May 3, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Jason Eric Zwibel (CRD# 2460258, aka, Jay Bell Zwibel) is a registered broker and investment advisor with Garden State Securities (CRD# 10083) in Wellington, FL. He has been with Garden State since 1/22/2010. He has worked as a broker since 1994, and previously worked for:

GunnAllen Financial, Inc. (CRD# 17609), Wellington, FL, from 06/22/2007 through 02/02/2010
Brookstreet Securities Corporation (CRD#14667), West Palm Beach, FL, from 08/24/1999 through 06/26/2007

Silver Law Group is Investigating Christopher Bennett of Hilliard Lyons

March 6, 2018 | Silver Law Group

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panel awarded a customer of Christopher Bennett of Hillard Lyons damages of $445,000 after the claimant alleged Bennett engaged in breach of fiduciary duty, unauthorized trading, suitability, churning, misrepresentation, omission of facts, common law negligence, fraud, failure to supervise, common law negligent supervision and violation of Kentucky statutes, regulations and FINRA rules. The causes of action related to losses to the client’s qualified and non-qualified retirement accounts. The investor alleges Mr. Bennett executed transactions in her accounts without authorization, allocated her assets in an unsuitable manner for someone her age and with her investment objectives without discussing the risk associated with such re-allocation, and engaged in excessive trading in her accounts. A brokerage firm has a duty to supervise a stockbroker for compliance with the securities laws and internal firm rules and regulations.

Christopher Duke Bennett is currently registered with J.J.B. Hilliard, W.L. Lyons in Louisville, Kentucky, and has been since December 1995. He has six customer disputes against him, three of which are currently pending.

Contact Our Firm if You’ve Invested with Christopher Bennett

Marc Arena: Hear No Evil, See No Evil Allegations

January 14, 2016 | Silver Law Group

Marc Arena: Hear No Evil, See No Evil Allegations on silverlaw.com

After multiple allegations and failure to supervise, New York broker Marc Arena faces stiff FINRA suspension.

Newport Coast Securities broker Marc Arena has received a suspension from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for failing to adequately supervise a member of his FINRA registered firm. He allegedly did not take action to address multiple red flags indicating that a member of his firm was participating in excessive trading, churning, and giving unsuitable recommendations to customers. As the supervisor, it was his responsibility to take reasonable action to address this broker misconduct and ensure that it did not continue to occur. According to FINRA reports, Mr. Arena’s alleged failure to take action resulted in a FINRA suspension for acting in any capacity for 10 days and a suspension for acting in any principal capacity for 23 months ending in October, 2017.

Arena’s history in the securities industry

UBS Ordered to Pay $33.5M in Puerto Rico Bond Settlement

October 13, 2015 | Silver Law Group

UBS Ordered to Pay $33.5M in Puerto Rico Bond Settlement on silverlaw.com

SEC and FINRA allegations include supervisory failures

Both the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have handed a UBS affiliate in Puerto Rico orders to pay a settlement in the amount of $33.5 million, according to Law360.com. The charges against the bank include failure to supervise a representative who allegedly manipulated investors in order to used borrowed money to buy up closed-ended bond funds. Silver Law Group currently represents hundreds of families in Puerto Rico for their losses in UBS bond funds.

The SEC has recently sued Jose G. Ramirez Jr., based on allegations that he tricked a handful of investors into using lines of credit to purchase up to $50 million worth of closed-end mutual funds. These funds plummeted when Puerto Rico’s bond market dropped in 2013.

Customer Files Claim Against Wells Fargo For Investing in F-Squared Investments

June 30, 2015 | Silver Law Group

A customer of Wells Fargo Advisors filed a FINRA complaint against Wells Fargo to seek the money he lost when his adviser invested his monies in “F-Squared Investments.” The customer’s claim is that Wells Fargo failed to supervise his adviser properly, and also did not do the required due diligence in the investment that he recommended (F-Squared). The customer is also seeking lost opportunity damages, which is the money he could have made if his money were invested in an S&P 500 Fund.

The SEC launched an investigation into F-Squared Investments and its co-founder and CEO Howard Present, in 2013. According to the SEC’s Order of December 2014, F-Squared Investments agreed to pay $35 million and admit wrongdoing to settle charges that it defrauded investors through false advertising about its flagship product (AlphaSector). The SEC alleged that while marketing AlphaSector into the largest active ETF (“exchange-traded funds”) strategy in the market, F-Squared falsely advertised a successful seven-year track record for the investment strategy based on the actual performance of real investments for real clients. In reality, the algorithm was not even in existence during the seven years of purported performance success. The data used in F-Squared’s advertising was actually derived through backtesting, although F-Squared and Howard Present specifically advertised the investment strategy as “not backtested.” Further, the hypothetical data contained a substantial performance calculation error that inflated the results by approximately 350 percent.

According to news reports, the customer in this case is an elderly person who claims that Wells Fargo did not perform due diligence on investments prior to selling them to the public. Additionally, the customer claims that Wells Fargo failed to properly supervise one of its advisers and recommendations the advisor made to the client, who described himself as a “moderately conservative investor seeking moderately conservative growth”, concerning his investment risk. The client claims that had Wells Fargo conducted full due diligence on the F-Squared product, it would have discovered red flags, additionally seeing that the ETF-based F-Squared product was not appropriate for a moderately conservative investor.

Silver Law Group Files Securities Arbitration Case Against Dawson James

May 29, 2015 | Silver Law Group

The Silver Law Group has filed a securities arbitration claim before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) on behalf of a family and a family business from South America alleging, among other things, that Dawson James failed to properly supervise one of its registered representatives, permitted an unsuitable investment strategy to be utilized and permitted the family’s investment accounts to be excessively traded for the purposes of generating huge commissions for itself and its registered representatives while wiping out most of their customers’ investment capital in a very short period of time.

Excessive trading or “churning,” as it is known in the industry, is the act of a broker who excessively and needlessly engages in trading in a client’s account primarily to generate commissions for the broker on each trade without regard for the client’s financial well-being. Churning is an illegal and unethical practice that violates SEC rules and securities laws.

Dawson James Securities markets itself as a full service investment firm specializing in complex healthcare, biotechnology, technology, and clean-tech sectors. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, the firm has been in operation since 2002. Dawson James has been the subject of several regulatory investigations, some which resulted in disciplinary actions by regulators. For example, FINRA recently censured and fined Dawson James $75,000 for failing to provide adequate supervisory procedures. FINRA found that during the review period the firm failed to investigate numerous “red flags” relating to the activities of one registered representative. Dawson James also failed to enforce its written supervisory procedures which specified that all electronic correspondence is reviewed on a daily basis. The firm has also been the subject of several customer FINRA arbitration claims.

FINRA Bars Jan Ernest Helen for Refusing to Cooperate in Investigation Relating to Missing Customer Funds

February 3, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Jan Ernest Helen, of Denver, Colorado, submitted an AWC in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Helen was registered with Janco Partners, Inc. from 1996 through September 2014. Without admitting or denying the findings, Helen consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he failed and refused to appear for FINRA on-the-record testimony in connection with an investigation into his possible conversion or misuse of investor funds. The findings stated that Helen, through counsel, informed FINRA that he would not appear for testimony on the scheduled date or at a future date. (FINRA Case #2014042231401)

In 2012, FINRA sanctioned Helen for misconduct relating to a private placement offering and Janco’s failure to have a reasonable supervisory system for the sale of private placements. Helen now faces even more serious allegations involving possible theft of customer funds.

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

Chapin Davis Settles Claims Relating to Structured Notes

January 16, 2015 | Silver Law Group

Chapin Davis, Inc., of Baltimore, Maryland, submitted an AWC in which the firm was censured and fined by FINRA $35,000. Without admitting or denying the findings, Chapin Davis agreed to the sanctions and to the findings in connection with the sale of structured products, the firm’s supervisory system and WSPs were inadequate. The findings stated that the firm sold approximately $24.5 million in structured notes and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insured structured certificates of deposit (CDs) to retail customers. The firm did not have a system or WSPs for evaluating and conducting due diligence on the products, including determining risks and suitability issues, as applicable, and for approving the products. The firm offered limited training on the products, and its WSPs did not specifically address the products or provide guidance or restrictions unique to the products, including assessment or consideration of customer-specific suitability, as applicable. In addition, the firm did not sufficiently review transactions in the products, including monitoring of accounts for overconcentration of the products. (FINRA Case #2012030601701)

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.