Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Christopher Gallo (Gallo), currently associated with Joseph Stone Capital L.l.c., has at least one disclosable event. These events include one tax lien, alleging that Gallo recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on November 27, 2024.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Gallo consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he willfully violated the Best Interest Obligation under Rule 15l-1(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Regulation BI) when he recommended to retail customers, one of whom was a senior, a series of trades that were excessive and not in the customers’ best interests. The findings stated that the trading generated $97,981 in commissions and caused $204,492 in realized losses to the customers.
Under the securities laws brokers are obligated to act in their clients’ best interests and provide only suitable recommendations for investments to the client. In addition, the SEC has promulgated ‘Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI)‘ which according to the SEC enhanced the broker-dealer standard of conduct beyond existing suitability obligations and requires broker-dealers to act in the best interest of a retail customer when making a recommendation of any securities transaction or investment strategy involving securities. 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 have an obligation to first obtain and evaluate sufficient information about a retail investor to form a reasonable basis to believe the account recommendations are in the retail investor’s best interest. Recommendations cannot be based on materially inaccurate or incomplete information. Data on the investor and the expense of the advice are consistently 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. Accordingly, a brokerage firm may not rely blindly upon the issuer for information concerning a company in lieu of conducting its own reasonable investigation.
To protect investors, it should be required to mandate broker disclosures. 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 studies offer evidence showing that brokers with a past history of regulatory and customer complaint issues are more likely to have such issues in the future. FINRA’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) published a study showing the predictability of disciplinary and disclosure events based on past 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.
Gallo entered the securities industry in 2018. Gallo has been registered as a Broker with Joseph Stone Capital L.l.c. since 2023.
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.
