New York Unsuitability Lawyers

New York Unsuitability Lawyers are Representing NY Investors Against Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers For More Than 30 Years

For over 30 years, Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas (investorlawyers.com) has been working hard to help New York investors recoup their portfolio losses caused by the inappropriate recommendations of their financial advisor.

Unsuitability is one of the most common reasons that investment loss recovery claims are filed. From our Buffalo, NY securities law offices, we have the skills, resources, and knowledge to take on even the most complex cases against the largest brokerage firms and investment advisers on Wall Street and throughout the United States.

What Are Unsuitable Recommendations And Why Does It Cost New York Investors?

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), it is key that suitability obligations are met for investor protection, fair dealings, and ethical sales practices.

The self-regulatory organization (SRO) even has Rule 2111, which requires that a broker-dealer or associated person have reasonable grounds for recommending a particular transaction or investment strategy to a customer.

Suitability is determined by looking at a customer’s investment profile, which typically includes their age, risk tolerance level, investing experience, tax status, financial situation, investing goals, level of investment experience, liquidity needs, and investing time horizon. The rule also applies to any strategies involving securities that are recommended.

The FINRA rule states that there are three primary suitability obligations:

Reasonable-basis: The broker-dealer has reasonable grounds for thinking, based on appropriate due diligence, that an investment recommendation is suitable for at least some investors.

Customer-specific: The broker was able to determine suitability for the particular customer.

Quantitative suitability: The broker must have reasonable grounds for believing that a series of transactions they are recommending is suitable and not excessive.

As for institutional investors, FINRA’s suitability rule is satisfied if the brokerage firm or associated person has reasonable grounds for believing that the investor is able to independently assess and understand the risks to which they are agreeing.

Unfortunately, there are financial advisors who may skip steps to ensure suitability before making an investment recommendation to a customer. We cannot tell you how often unsuitability leads to exposure to too risky investments, fraud losses, overconcentration, misrepresentations and omissions, negligence, and gross negligence.

Brokerage firms have a duty to supervise their financial advisors and activities in customers’ accounts. When the failure to supervise enables unsuitable investment recommendations, leading to investors’ losses, this can be grounds for an investment loss recovery claim against the broker-dealer.

How Can Our Buffalo, NY Unsuitability Attorneys Help?

During your free, initial case consultation, we can help you determine whether your losses warrant grounds for an unsuitability case to pursue damages. Unfortunately, unsuitable investment recommendations can be hard to detect, which is why you need seasoned New York securities lawyers who know how to look for evidence of this type of broker misconduct.

Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas has represented investors in more than 1000 matters for over 30 years. We understand the toll that losing money, including your savings or retirement funds, can take, especially when you entrusted a financial professional to manage your assets.

Over the years, our Buffalo, New York unsuitability law firm has worked with thousands of investors to collectively secure many millions of dollars on their behalf against brokerage firms and investment advisers in arbitration, mediation, negotiations, and litigation.

When you work with us, you are retaining seasoned New York investment loss recovery attorneys with over 100 years of collective experience in securities law and the securities industry.

Many of us used to work as brokers, but we left the brokerage industry because of the many unsavory practices we witnessed. We now use our knowledge as former insiders of that industry to fight for investors like you.

Unfortunately, there are greedy financial advisors who will purposely make unsuitable recommendations because they want to earn high commissions or even commit fraud and don’t care how it harms investors. These are serious acts of misconduct.

Even if the FINRA files its own regulatory claim or criminal charges are brought, it is important to still explore your own options for filing an individual claim seeking damages.

Contact Our New York Unsuitability Lawyers

Call (716) 261-3529 or (800) 259-9010 or fill out this form.

Sheridan Meadows Corporate Park South
6225 Sheridan Dr #308-B
Buffalo, NY 14221