Securities Lawyers Blog
The investment lawyers of Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating customer complaints against broker Michael Child (Child). There are at least 2 customer complaints against Child. In addition, there is one regulatory complaint and three employment separations disclosed. The customer complaints against Child allege a number of securities law violations including that the broker made unsuitable investments, misrepresentations, negligence, and unauthorized trading among other claims. One of the claims involves allegations around the recommendation of a variable annuity.
The regulatory action was initiated by the state of Utah in March 2012 and alleged that certain information on a suitability form was not current resulting in a fine and a 12 month probation. In 2008, Child’s brokerage firm, GunnAllen Financial, Inc. alleged that Child allowed a statutorily disqualified person to represent himself as being associated with the branch office.
Child entered the securities industry in March 1998. Since March 2008, Child has been registered with H. Beck, Inc. out of the firm’s Salt Lake City, Utah office location.
Brokers have a responsibility treat investors fairly which includes obligations such as making only suitable investments for the client. In order to make a suitable recommendation the broker must meet certain requirements. First, there must be reasonable basis for the recommendation the product or security based upon the broker’s investigation and due diligence into the investment’s properties including its benefits, risks, tax consequences, and other relevant factors. Second, the broker then must match the investment as being appropriate for the customer’s specific investment needs and objectives such as the client’s retirement status, long or short term goals, age, disability, income needs, or any other relevant factor.
The number of customer complaints against Child is high relative to his peers. According to InvestmentNews, only about 12% of financial advisors have any type of disclosure event on their records. Brokers must publicly disclose certain types of reportable events on their CRD including but not limited to customer complaints. In addition to disclosing client disputes brokers must divulge IRS tax liens, judgments, and criminal matters. However, FINRA’s records are not always complete according to a Wall Street Journal story that checked with 26 state regulators and found that at least 38,400 brokers had regulatory or financial red flags such as a personal bankruptcy that showed up in state records but not on BrokerCheck. More disturbing is the fact that 19,000 out of those 38,400 brokers had spotless BrokerCheck records.
The investment fraud attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP represent investors who have suffered securities losses due to the mishandling of their accounts. The majority of these claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.