Woodstock Financial Group, Inc. Broker William Bruckner Fined and Suspended by FINRA

Allegations of mismarking solicited trades as unsolicited follow this West Palm Beach broker from firm to firm.

William Bruckner is accused of mismarking solicited trades as unsolicited and by doing so, violating his member-firm policy.

Originally employed by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC in West Palm Beach, Florida from February 2010 to July 2012, Bruckner moved on to employment with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated in Palm Beach, Florida from July 2012 to May 2016.

According to Bruckner’s BrokerCheck report, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated discharged him in May 2016, alleging “conduct including solicitation of no opinion securities, mismarking trades as unsolicited and failure to be forthcoming in discussions with the Firm.”

While Bruckner then moved to Woodstock Financial Group, Inc. in West Palm Beach, Florida in May 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) opened an investigation into the allegations. In February 2017, the FINRA investigation found that Bruckner had mismarked 20 order tickets as unsolicited when, in fact, he had solicited the underlying trades for his customers. When an order is marked as unsolicited, it means that it was independently instigated by the customer. In contrast, solicited orders are conducted based on the advice or recommendation of the broker.

Bruckner’s member firm’s policy required him to obtain the firm’s written authorization before soliciting such securities since the firm did not cover them. Since Bruckner failed to obtain authorization before soliciting the trades, he caused the firm’s books and records to be inaccurate by marking the order tickets as unsolicited.

As a result of the FINRA investigation, Bruckner was fined $5,000 and suspended from acting as a broker in any capacity from March 6, 2017 through March 24, 2017.

Did William Buckner solicit you to invest in funds with him? Are you certain the investment opportunities offered by your financial advisor or broker are legitimate?

As an investor, you have rights. If you suffered monetary loss due to the actions of William Buckner or any other broker or financial advisor, you may be able to recover some or all of your money through securities arbitration.

The attorneys at Silver Law Group are leaders in the field of securities arbitration. We represent individual and institutional investors across the United States who have lost money at the hands of a trusted financial advisor. Scott Silver is currently the chairman of the American Trial Lawyers Association, Securities and Financial Fraud Group and routinely represents investors in securities arbitration claims.

Contact us at 1-800-975-4345 or fill out our contact form for a free consultation from an experienced arbitration lawyer. We work on contingency, so we are not paid unless you recover funds.