Securities Lawyers Blog
According to BrokerCheck records kept by The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) broker Antonio Suarez-borelli (Suarez-borelli), currently associated with Nationwide Planning Associates Inc., has been subject to at least one disclosable event. These events include one regulatory event. Several of those complaints against Suarez-borelli concern allegations of high frequency trading activity also referred to as churning or excessive trading among other securities laws violations.
FINRA BrokerCheck shows a final customer complaint on August 20, 2024.
Without admitting or denying the findings, Antonio Suarez, as designated supervising principal in the Puerto Rico’s OSJ of NATIONWIDE PLANNING ASSOCIATES, INC. (‘NATIONWIDE PLANNING ASSOCIATES’), a registered broker-dealer, consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he failed to detect or alert any of the red flags that reflected the pattern of transactions that the agent had in many of his customers’ accounts that resulted in the the agent’s violations of securities rules that caused serious harm to multiple clients. For the period of October 1, 2019 to November 30, 2022, the agent violated sections 101(2) and 101(3) of Puerto Rico Uniform Securities Act and sections 25.3.2, 25.3.3, 25.3.4, 25.3.5, 25.3.7, 25.3.9 and 25.4.10 of Regulation No. 6078 thereunder by, among other things, making unsuitable investment recommendations to his customers, churning customers’ accounts, engaging in switching of unit investment trusts and mutual funds, unauthorized trades, and making untrue statements and omission of material facts in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of securities and the conversion of accounts from brokerage to advisory accounts.
When brokers engage in excessive trading, sometimes referred to as churning, the broker will typical trade in and out of securities, sometimes even the same stock, many times over a short period of time. Frequently, the broker flips the account entirely with different securities. The only purpose of this investment trading activity in any client’s account is to generate commissions that benefit the broker, not the investor. In the realm of securities law, churning is classified as a type of fraud. Excessive trading of securities, broker manipulation of the account, and the intent to deceive the investor for illicit commissions form the basis of the claim. A similar claim, excessive trading, under FINRA’s suitability rule involves just the first two elements. Certain commonly used measures and ratios used to determine churning help evaluate a churning claim. These ratios look at how frequently the account is turned over plus whether or not the expenses incurred in the account made it unreasonable that the investor could reasonably profit from the activity.
According to newsources, a study revealed that 7.3% of financial advisors had a customer complaint on their record when records from 2005 to 2015 were examined. Brokers must publicly disclose reportable events on their BrokerCheck reports that include customer complaints, IRS tax liens, judgments, investigations, terminations, and criminal cases. In addition, research has shown a disturbing pattern with troublesome brokers where brokers with high numbers of customer complaints are not kicked out of the industry but instead these brokers are sifted to lower quality brokerage firms with loose hiring practices and higher rates of customer complaints. These lower quality firms may average brokers with five times as many complaints as the industry average.
Suarez-borelli entered the securities industry in 2007. Suarez-borelli has been registered as a Broker with Nationwide Planning Associates Inc. since 2012.
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.
