Securities Lawyers Blog
The securities attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP are investigating claims against LPL Financial broker Stephen Garrett (Garrett). According to BrokerCheck records, Garret has been subject to two customer complaints.
Most recently, In February 2014, a customer alleged inappropriate investments and options trading in volatile stocks concentrated in the oil and energy sector and inconsistent with customer’s investment objectives. This dispute settled for $62,500.
Our firm handles claims and is also investigating securities claims against brokerage firms over sales practices related to the recommendations of oil & gas and commodities products such as exchange traded notes (ETNs), structured notes, private placements, master limited partnerships (MLPs), leveraged ETFs, mutual funds, and individual stocks.
Before recommending investments in oil and gas and commodities related investments, brokers and advisors must ensure that the investment is appropriate for the investor and conduct due diligence on the company in order to understand the risks and prospects of the company. Oil and gas and commodities related investments have been recommended by brokers under the assumption that commodities prices would continue to go up. However, brokers who sell oil and gas and commodities products are obligated to understand the risks of these investments and convey them to clients.
The number of complaints against Keane are unusual compared to his peers. According to newsources, only about 7.3% of financial advisors have any type of disclosure event on their records among brokers employed from 2005 to 2015. Brokers must publicly disclose reportable events on their CRD customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, and even criminal matters. However, studies have found that there are fraud hotspots such as certain parts of California, New York or Florida, where the rates of disclosure can reach 18% or higher. Moreover, according to the New York Times, BrokerCheck may be becoming increasing inaccurate and understate broker misconduct as studies have shown that 96.9% of broker requests to clean their records of complaints are granted.
Garrett has 42 years of experience in the securities industry. He was previously registered with Merrill Lynch from 1973 to 1990 and Grant Bettingen, Inc. in 1992. Garrett has been registered with LPL Financial LLC since 1993.
At Gana Weinstein LLP, our investment attorneys are experienced representing investors who have suffered securities losses due to inappropriate investments in oil and gas related securities. Claims may be brought in securities arbitration before FINRA. Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover.