Former Boca Raton, Florida-based Raymond James Broker Under Investigation for Discretionary Trading in Non-Discretionary Account

Silver Law Group is investigating former Boca Raton, Florida-based Raymond James broker Gregory E. Barr (CRD# 1312703) after being discharged by two different firms in less than three years.

Barr was most recently employed by Raymond James & Associates (CRD# 705), but most of his trouble involves his prior firm, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (CRD# 2525).

In May 2014, Deutsche Bank discharged Barr after the he allegedly admitted exercising discretion in non-discretionary accounts.

FINRA opened an investigation shortly after.  In June 2016, FINRA suspended Barr for 10 days and fined him $5,000 based off the allegations of discretionary trading in non-discretionary accounts.

A mere 15 days after the FINRA regulatory decision was passed, Barr was discharged by Raymond James after Barr violated his heightened supervision plan.  Raymond James discharged Barr for failing to keep contemporaneous notes as required by the heightened supervision plan.

Currently, Barr has a FINRA arbitration pending that was filed in June 2016.  The FINRA arbitration alleges breach of fiduciary duty, negligence, and breach of contract.

Barr has been in the industry for 31 years and worked at six different firms.  Prior to working at Deutsche Bank and Raymond James, Barr worked at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (CRD# 149777) from June 2009 to April 2012.

When a customer opens an account with a broker and brokerage firm, the customer can choose whether or not he or she wants to give the broker to trade discretionarily in order to capitalize as quickly as possible on an ever-changing market.  Often times, customers choose to reserve that right and have the final “OK” before a broker facilitates a transaction.

Unauthorized trading is when a broker facilitates a transaction without the permission of the customer in a non-discretionary account.  According to FINRA, it is one of the common investor issues along with misrepresentation, cold-calling, and unsuitability.

Unauthorized discretion is a serious form of broker misconduct.  A broker’s employing firm is responsible for overseeing the broker to prevent such misconduct.  If a broker happens to escape the brokerage firm’s oversight, the customer should not be responsible for the losses flowing from the misconduct.

FINRA arbitration is a fast, efficient way to recover your lost investment funds due to unauthorized trading.  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 Gregory E. Barr and Deutsche Bank or Raymond James 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.