Cetera Advisor Networks LLC Broker Thomas Ealy Has Customer Complaint

According to records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) financial Broker Thomas Ealy (Ealy), currently associated with Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, has at least 4 disclosable events. These events include 4 customer complaints, alleging that Ealy recommended unsuitable investments in different investment products including debt securities among other allegations and complaints.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $25,000.00 on November 01, 2024.

Liquidity, investment purpose, and risk tolerance.  Further, the investment was misrepresented to client.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $25,000.00 on November 01, 2024.

Liquidity, investment purpose and risk tolerance. Further, the investment was misrepresented to client.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $30,000.00 on November 01, 2024.

Liquidity, investment purpose and risk tolerance. Further, the investment was misrepresented to them.

FINRA BrokerCheck shows a settled customer complaint with a damage request of $25,000.00 on November 01, 2024.

Investment presented outcomes contrary to Claimants expectations and the Recommendations of the registered representative.

Brokers must adhere to securities laws by ensuring they act in their clients’ best interests and offer only appropriate investment recommendations. Moreover, the SEC has introduced “Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI),” which, according to the SEC, elevates the brokerdealer standard of conduct beyond current suitability obligations and mandates that brokerdealers act in the best interest of retail customers when recommending any securities transaction or investment strategy related to 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. Thus, without conducting its own reasonable investigation, a brokerage firm cannot depend solely on the issuer for information about a company.

Additional investor safeguards include broker disclosure requirements. Brokers are required to disclose reportable events such as customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, terminations, and even criminal matters on FINRA’s BrokerCheck reports for public viewing. FINRA has recognized that recent studies indicate future regulatory and customer complaint issues can be predicted for brokers who have experienced them before. 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.

Ealy entered the securities industry in 1981. Ealy has been registered as a Broker with Cetera Advisor Networks LLC since 2019.

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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