Avantax Investment Services, Inc. Broker Christopher Kirkland Has Customer Complaint

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Christopher Kirkland (Kirkland), currently associated with Avantax Investment Services, Inc., has at least 7 disclosable events. These events include 7 customer complaints, alleging that Kirkland recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $750,000.00 on December 11, 2024.

Customer alleged the investment she purchased were not suitable.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint on August 27, 2024.

Customers alleged the investments they purchased were not suitable.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint on June 27, 2024.

Customer alleged the investments they purchased were not suitable.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $900,000.00 on May 20, 2024.

Customers alleged the investments they purchased were not suitable.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $999,000.00 on May 14, 2024.

Customer alleged the investments they purchased were not suitable.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $585,000.00 on August 31, 2023.

Customers allege the investments they purchased were not suitable.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $735,004.45 on August 22, 2023.

Customer alleges that certain investments that she purchased were unsuitable and/or unauthorized.

Brokers must adhere to securities laws by serving their clients’ best interests and offering only appropriate investment suggestions. The SEC has also implemented “Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI)“, which, according to the SEC, elevates the brokerdealer standard of conduct beyond current suitability obligations, requiring them to act in the best interest of retail customers when recommending any securities transaction or investment strategy. Regulation Best Interest and the fiduciary standard for investment advisers are drawn from key fiduciary principles that include an obligation to act in the retail investor’s best interest and not to place their own interests ahead of the investor’s interest.

Brokers must first collect and analyze sufficient information about a retail investor to reasonably conclude that the account recommendations are in the investor’s best interest. Recommendations cannot be based on materially inaccurate or incomplete information. The cost of the recommendation and information about the investor are always part of material information. Types of costs that must be considered including account fees, commissions and transaction costs, tax considerations, as well as indirect costs.

In addition to obligation to understand the customer the broker must also investigate the product being sold. FINRA firms have an obligation to conduct a reasonable investigation of the issuer and the securities they recommend in offerings. A brokerage firm has a special relationship with a customer from the fact that in recommending the security, the broker represents to the customer that a reasonable investigation has been made. So, a brokerage firm should not depend solely on information from the issuer regarding a company, but must perform its own thorough investigation.

Additional investor safeguards include broker disclosure requirements. Brokers are required to reveal important events, such as customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, terminations, and even criminal matters, publicly on their BrokerCheck reports. FINRA has recognized that recent research shows brokers with a past record of regulatory or customer complaint issues are more likely to have such problems again in the future. The Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) at FINRA released a study demonstrating that past disciplinary and disclosure events can indicate the likelihood of future similar events. The OCE study showed that past disclosure events, including regulatory actions, customer arbitrations and litigations of brokers, have significant power to predict future investor harm. The data shows that where a member firm on-boards brokers with a significant history of misconduct there is a high likelihood that the broker will continue to engage in similar behavior.

Kirkland entered the securities industry in 2008. Kirkland has been registered as a Broker with Avantax Investment Services, Inc. since 2021.

Investors who have suffered losses are encouraged to contact us at (800) 810-4262 for consultation. At Gana Weinstein LLP, our attorneys are experienced representing investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts. Claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.

 

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