Securities Lawyers Blog
Our firm is investigating claims made by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against broker Brian Sak (Sak). According to brokercheck, Sak consented sanctions and an entry of findings that he failed to provide documents and information requested by FINRA during the course of its investigation into allegations that he solicited a client to invest in an outside business. FINRA’s investigation followed Morgan Stanely’s termination of Sak in May 2016 after the firm stated that it had concerns related to outside real estate investment with a client that was not appropriately disclosed to the firm.
At this time it is unclear the total scope and extent of these outside business activities and private transactions but according to Sak’s disclosures he is involved in Southside Holdings which is engaged in real estate rentals. To date five customers have come forward to complaint about investment losses related to Sak’s real estate transactions.
The providing of loans or selling of notes and other investments outside of a brokerage firm constitutes impermissible private securities transactions – a practice known in the industry as “selling away”. Often times brokers who engage in this practice use outside businesses in order to market their securities.