Securities Fraud

Structured Products Are Not For Everyone In San Francisco. Here’s Why

Published on: May 15, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Our San Francisco structured product fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) work with investors throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in helping them to recoup their losses.

Structured products are not for everyone, although investors find them very attractive because they can provide the opportunity to earn the high yield not likely to happen with more traditional types of investments.

Unfortunately, even though these market-linked investments should only be marketed to sophisticated investors that can handle a certain level of risk, brokers lured by the healthy commissions have been recommending them to retail investors, including senior investors and retirees, for years.

Securities Fraud In San Francisco: How You Can Protect Yourself

Published on: May 13, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Becoming the victim of securities fraud in San Francisco can lead to devastating financial losses and there are steps that you can take to prevent that from happening. Even if your broker is registered with a known brokerage firm, there are questions you should ask and due diligence you can do to protect yourself and your investments.

How To Protect Yourself Against Securities Fraud

Below, we discuss the steps you need to put in place to ensure that you are fully protected when dealing with a broker or brokerage firm based in San Francisco.

National Securities Broker Michael Burkoff Accused of Unsuitable Investment Recommendations Involving Structured Products

Published on: May 11, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

National Securities Broker Investigated Over Unsuitable Investment Recommendations

Our broker fraud lawyers at Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law firm) are looking into claims by investors who suspect that National Securities stockbroker Michael Burkoff recommended investments that were unsuitable for them. Burkoff is a registered representative with National Securities. He has been the subject of a number of customer complaints.

Our seasoned securities fraud attorneys have been successful at representing investors from all over the United States in cases of broker fraud. If you are interested in finding out how you can recover investment losses, get in touch with us today.

The Top Types of Securities Fraud All Investors Must Know

Published on: April 14, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Broker Fraud Along With The Coronavirus May Be Causing Investment Losses

Becoming the victim of securities fraud is a serious matter. With stocks plummeting and the markets fluctuating all over the place in the wake of COVID-19, investors may not realize that it’s not just the economic reverberations of the coronavirus that’s plaguing their portfolio.

They also may be losing money because their stockbrokers or investment advisor were fraudulent or negligent when handling their investments and placed them in an even more precarious financial situation with more losses than they would now be sustaining otherwise.

Some Brokers Are Taking Advantage Of Investors During The COVID -19 Coronavirus

Published on: March 24, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Watch Out for Brokers Looking to Make High Commissions During COVID-19

With the market crashing in the wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), many investors are suffering from massive losses in their portfolio and are looking to their brokers for investment advice.

Unfortunately, not all stockbrokers work with their customers’ best interests at heart, breaching their fiduciary duty in the process. There are also unscrupulous registered representatives who may even seek to take advantage of these hard times and try to persuade investors to buy into risky investments that charge high commissions. Such fraudulent and negligent behavior will lead to even more investment losses and ultimately, acts of stockbroker misconduct.

Citigroup, LPL Financial, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Securities, and Merrill Lynch Fined $1.4M for Failure to Reasonably Supervise

Published on: March 2, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Broker-Dealers Accused of Not Properly Supervising Custodial Accounts

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced that it has fined five major firms $1.4M in total for not reasonably supervising custodial accounts. The broker-dealers are:

Citigroup (C), which will pay $300K.

Rogue Broker Named in Over 50 Complaints Found Guilty of Mail & Wire Fraud

Published on: February 10, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Rogue Broker Convicted & Faces Decades In Prison

A jury has convicted Anthony Diaz, a barred rogue stockbroker who was fired by several brokerage firms and has been the subject of more than four dozen customer complaints, of 11 counts of wire fraud and mail fraud. Each criminal court comes with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) have been speaking to former customers of Diaz who sustained investment losses while working with him. If you are one of these investors, contact our broker fraud attorneys today. You may have grounds for a civil claim against the brokerage firm where he was working at the time.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Ex-Cetera Advisors Broker Roger Owens

Published on: January 30, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Fired Cetera Advisors Broker Accused Of Unauthorized Securities Sales

Our stockbroker fraud attorneys are speaking to former clients of former Cetera Advisors LLC broker, Roger Lee Owens that sustained substantial investment losses while working with him. Contact Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (SSEK Law Firm) today to schedule your free, no-obligation case consultation.

Cetera Advisors fired Roger Owens last year for allegedly taking part in unapproved private securities transactions. A few months later, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) suspended Owens for a year, through August 2020, for the same reasons.

Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas Investigates Merrill Lynch and Gordon Harper over Collateral Yield Enhancement Strategy (CYES) Damages

Published on: January 9, 2020 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

Collateral Yield Enhancement Strategy (CYES) Damages: SSEK Investigating Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor

Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas (SSEK), a law firm specializing in representing wronged investors is looking into allegations against Gordon Harper, a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch out of Upper Montclair, New Jersey. Prior to that, he worked at Banc of America and Edward Jones.

According to allegations in a recent Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) claim, Gordon Harper recommended something called Harvest Volatility Management CYES (also known as collateral yield enhancement strategy). Harvest is a money manager which, as the name implies, attempts to manage volatility.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas Investigates Claims Involving Ex-Commonwealth Financial Network Broker Gerald Eaton

Published on: December 2, 2019 | by Shepherd Smith Edwards & Kantas, LLP

SSEK Investigating Ex-Commonwealth Financial Network Broker

SSEK Law Firm is meeting with investors who suffered losses while working with former Commonwealth Financial Network broker, Gerald Allan Eaton, or another financial representative from the firm.

Eaton was recently barred by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in the wake of allegations that he fraudulently took money out of his clients’ accounts. Commonwealth fired him last month, claiming it had found that he’d engaged in “serious misconduct” that involved “fraudulently facilitated distributions” from accounts that were not for clients’ benefit and without letting them know or getting their permission.