FINRA has fined and censured NEXT Financial Group, Inc. (“NEXT”) over supervisory failures related to unsuitable short-term trading of mutual funds and municipal bonds, and over-concentration of customer accounts in Puerto Rican municipal bonds. NEXT was fined $750,000 and consented to provide a certification to FINRA, within 120 days, regarding…
FINRA has suspended Popular Securities, LLC broker Fernando Luis Monllor from the securities industry for 30 business days for using a pre-signed Letter of Authorization (LOA) from a customer to transfer assets among the customer’s accounts. Monllor’s suspension is scheduled to start on August 2, 2021, and end on September…
FINRA has suspended Popular Securities, LLC broker Dennis Cummings from the securities industry for 45 business days for instructing his sales assistant to use pre-signed Letters of Authorization (LOA) to effect transfers between customers’ accounts. Cummings’ suspension is scheduled to start on July 19, 2021, and end on September 20,…
FINRA has suspended former RBC Capital Markets broker Jeffrey Fladell from associating with any FINRA member for three months over unsuitable recommendations he made to a retired senior over 100 years old, which resulted in her extreme overconcentration in high-yield municipal bonds. In addition to his suspension, Fladell was fined…
Numerous stockbrokers at David Lerner Associates Inc. (“David Lerner Associates”) recommended risky and speculative Puerto Rico municipal bonds to customers. An investor may be able to recover financial losses if the recommendation was not suitable for the customer or if David Lerner misrepresented or omitted material facts about the bonds…
On behalf of a client, securities arbitration law firm Iorio Altamirano LLP has filed an arbitration claim through FINRA Dispute Resolution Services against David Lerner Associates Inc. (“David Lerner”). The claim alleges that President and CEO Martin Walcoe and David Lerner unsuitably recommended that the customer purchase and hold Puerto…
Popular Securities broker Jose Ramon Martinez has six pending customer complaints on his CRD, including a customer complaint filed in late October 2020 claiming $500,000 in losses. The claims allege that recommendations to invest in Puerto Rico securities were unsuitable given the clients’ risk tolerance and Puerto Rico’s well-known deteriorating…
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…
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…
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…