Securities Lawyers Blog
According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Suihock Goy (Goy), currently associated with Ni Advisors, has at least 6 disclosable events. These events include 6 customer complaints, alleging that Goy 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 $100,000.00 on December 23, 2024.
Claims loss due to corporate bond investment in which issuer declared bankruptcy, claiming breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, vicarious liability. Investments were made in 2019-2020. Suihock Goy is supervisor, did not recommend the product to the client, and was not representative of record.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $210,000.00 on May 16, 2024.
Arbitration naming two representatives, one supervisor and the firm, alleging breach of contract, negligence, supervision, Reg BI relating to bankruptcy of GWG corporate bond issuer. Sales occurred during 2018-2020. Multiple clients included on one arbitration filing. Supervisor was not representative of record and was not directly involved in the sales for any of the accounts.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a pending customer complaint with a damage request of $100,000.00 on August 05, 2023.
Client included Mr. Goy as a respondent although he is the firm owner and not a representative for the client. Allegations include breach of contract, violation of statutes, breach of fiduciary duty, claims under common law, vicarious liability relating to the bond issuing company declaring bankruptcy, causing illiquidity of the holdings until the bankruptcy is resolved. Bond was purchased in 2021.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $60,000.00 on April 21, 2023.
CLAIM OF BREACH OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION REGARDING GWG L-BONDS DUE TO BANKRUPTCY OF GWG CORP. BONDS PURCHASED DURING 2018 AND 2020.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $150,000.00 on April 21, 2023.
CLAIM UNSUITABILITY, NEGLIGENCE, NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION DUE TO GWG CORP BANKRUPTCY AFFECTING GWG L-BONDS PURCHASED IN 2018.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $55,000.00 on April 21, 2023.
CLAIM OF UNSUITABILITY, NEGLIGENCE AND NEGLIGENT SUPERVISION FOR BANKRUPTCY FILED BY GWG CORP AFFECTING GWG L-BONDS PURCHASE IN 2019.
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. 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 the issuer for data about a company instead of performing its own thorough review.
Another protective measure for investors is the requirement for brokers to disclose. 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 record 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.
Goy entered the securities industry in 1998. Goy has been registered as a Broker with Ni Advisors since 2005.
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.
