FINRA has suspended financial advisor Paul Zakhary (CRD No. 6399894) from the securities industry for three months and fined him $5,000. FINRA alleged that between January and August 2018, while employed by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC in The Villages, Florida, Mr. Zakhary made unsuitable recommendations to three customers to sell…
Articles Posted in FINRA
Jaime I. Sanchez Rivera, former First Southern, LLC Financial Advisor in Puerto Rico, Suspended by FINRA – Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
FINRA has suspended financial advisor Jamie I. Sanchez Rivera (CRD #6013022) from the securities industry for five months and fined him $10,000. Jamie I. Sanchez Rivera was a stockbroker at First Southern, LLC in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, from April 2017 until May 2020. First Southern, LLC fired Mr. Sanchez Rivera…
Top 15 Types of Securities Leading to Customer Disputes in 2020
When an investor suffers harm, including investment losses, due to misconduct by a financial advisor or broker-dealer, the investor can file a securities arbitration claim against their financial advisor and/or broker-dealer in an effort to be compensated. The case will be presented and defended in an arbitration proceeding to a…
UBS Ordered to Pay $90,000 to Yield Enhancement Strategy Customer
On December 22, 2020, a FINRA Dispute Resolution Services arbitration panel in Boca Raton, Florida, ordered UBS Financial Services, Inc. to pay a customer $89,675 in compensatory damages. After considering the pleadings, the testimony and evidence presented at the hearing, the arbitration panel concluded that the UBS Yield Enhancement Strategy…
Former Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor, Rawad Roy Alame, Suspended by FINRA for Selling Away
FINRA has suspended financial advisor Rawad Roy Alame (CRD #5376696) from the securities industry for six months, fined $5,000, and ordered him to pay $2,700 to a former client. Rawad Alame was a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, working out of branch offices in Raleigh, North…
Hortensia Llavat, formerly with Santander Securities, facing twenty-three pending customer disputes over unsuitable Puerto Rico investments
Former Santander Securities broker Hortensia Llavat has twenty-three pending customer complaints on her CRD, including three customer complaints filed in 2020 claiming over $250,000 in losses. The claims allege that recommendations to invest in Puerto Rico municipal bonds and closed-end funds were unsuitable and led to overconcentration of the accounts…
Hector Gonzalez, with Merrill Lynch, facing six pending customer disputes over unsuitable investment recommendations – Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Merrill Lynch broker Hector J. Gonzalez has six pending customer complaints on his CRD, including one customer complaint filed in 2020 claiming $3 million in losses. The claims allege unsuitable investment recommendations and misrepresentations. Mr. Gonzalez (CRD#: 5330726) has been in the securities industry for 13 years. He has been…
Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. Sanctioned by FINRA and Ordered to Pay $8.8 Million for Supervisory Violations Related to Variable Annuities, Mutual Funds, and 529 Plans
FINRA has sanctioned Transamerica Financial Advisors, Inc. (“Transamerica Financial”) for its failure to reasonably supervise its financial advisors’ recommendations of three different products – variable annuities, mutual funds, and 529 plans. These recommendations resulted in significant customer harm and financial loss. Transamerica Financial was ordered to pay $4.4 million in…
Former LPL Financial LLC Financial Advisor, Michael Anthony Tavel, Suspended by FINRA for Selling Away, Making an Unsuitable Recommendation, and Misrepresentation – Indianapolis, IN
FINRA has suspended financial advisor Michael Anthony Tavel (CRD #4862463) from the securities industry for 18 months and fined him $20,000. Michael Tavel was a stockbroker at LPL Financial LLC, in Indianapolis, Indiana, from September 2004 until April 2019. He has also been affiliated with Charter Advisory Corporation and Tavel…
Investor Alert: Iorio Altamirano LLP Investigates SunTrust Investment Services, Inc. Over Non-Traditional ETF Supervisory Practices
Iorio Altamirano LLP is investigating claims on behalf of SunTrust customers who invested in non-traditional exchange traded funds (ETFs). If you have lost money with SunTrust, contact New York securities arbitration lawyers Iorio Altamirano LLP for a free and confidential evaluation of your account. SunTrust and FINRA entered into a…