Irvine, California Stockbroker Fraud Attorney

Did Steven Michael Gribben Cause You Investment Losses? Steven Michael Gribben of Irvine, California submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in which he was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for a period of three months. The sanctions were based on findings that he made negligent misrepresentations in violation of FINRA Rule 2010. The suspension was in effect from October 19, 2020, through January 18, 2021. In September 2017, Steven Michael Gribben joined Alpine Securities Corporation and became registered as an Investment Banking Representative. According to the FINRA findings, Gribben allegedly signed several transaction documents containing false statements, including that his member firm was not a broker or dealer in securities. The findings state that Gribben allegedly failed to properly read the claim purchase agreements before signing them to be submitted to the courts to obtain judicial confirmation that securities issued in exchange for the satisfaction of the claims would be deemed exempted securities. In addition, the misrepresentations could have impacted the court’s decision to approve instead of denying the exchanges and they made a false impression that Alpine was not timely paid for past work. Although Steven Michael Gribben is not currently registered or associated with any FINRA member firm, he remains subject to FINRA’s jurisdiction. FINRA Rule 2010 requires that FINRA member firms and their associated persons observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade. Making a negligent misrepresentation or omission of a material fact to a court is a violation of FINRA Rule 2010. Do You Need a California FINRA Securities Arbitration Attorney? Are you an Irvine, California investor who has suffered significant losses your stock brokerage and investment accounts?  Did your California stockbroker or investment advisor, misrepresent facts about the securities, investments or strategies they were recommending or otherwise mismanage your investment account? If so, you need representation by an experienced, highly-rated and nationally recognized FINRA arbitration attorney — an attorney who knows FINRA rules and procedures and how to handle these FINRA arbitration cases as well as other complex legal issues.  Free Initial Consultation With Experienced Securities Misrepresentation and Stockbroker Fraud Attorneys Serving Irvine, California Residents in FINRA Securities Arbitrations At The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A.  we represent investors in all kinds of securities, commodities and investment law disputes in FINRA, AAA and JAMS arbitration and mediation proceedings. Attorney Pearce and his staff represent investors throughout California, and across the United States on a CONTINGENCY FEE basis which means you pay nothing – NO FEES-NO COSTS – unless we put money in your pocket after receiving a settlement or FINRA arbitration award. Se habla español For dedicated representation by Attorney Pearce with over 40 years of experience and success in all kinds of securities, commodities and investment law disputes serving California citizens, contact the firm by phone at 561-338-0037, toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail.

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Irvine, California Lawyer Who Sues Stockbrokers For Selling Away (Selling Unauthorized Investments)

Did  Tony A. Kassaei Cause You Investment Losses? Tony A. Kassaei of Irvine, California submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in all capacities. The sanction was based on findings that he participated in undisclosed and unapproved private securities transactions and failing to comply with requests from FINRA in violation of  NASD Rule 3040 and FINRA Rules 8210 and 2010. In 2009, Tony A. Kassaei joined J.P. Turner & Company LLC and was registered as a General Securities Principal and General Securities Representative. The firm later filed a Uniform Termination Notice (Form U5) due to misconduct. According to the FINRA findings,  Kassaei participated in at least 11 investors’ securities transactions without his firms approval, totaling at least $2.6 million. The findings stated that the investors lost a total of $1.3 million while Kassaei was compensated for soliciting and facilitating these private securities transactions. In addition to the findings, FINRA began an investigation regarding Kassaei’s  involvement in the transactions and sent a request for information and an on-the-record testimony, which he initially appeared for but refused to answer or reappear for further questioning. Although Kassaei is no longer registered or associated with a FINRA member firm, he remains subject to FINRA’s jurisdiction. NASD Rule 3040 prohibits associated persons from participating “in any manner” in private securities transactions outside the regular course or scope of their employment unless they first provide written notice to the member firm with which they are associated. The written notice must describe in detail the proposed transaction, the person’s proposed role in the transaction, and whether the person has received or may receive selling compensation in connection with the transaction. Associated persons who violate NASD Rule 3040 also violate FINRA Rule 2010, which requires associated persons to observe high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade. FINRA Rule 8210(a)(1) states in relevant part that FINRA has the right to “require a person associated with a member, or any other person subject to FINRA’s jurisdiction to provide information orally, in writing, or electronically and to testify at a location specified by FINRA staff, with respect to any matter involved in the investigation[.]” FINRA Rule 8210(c) provides that “[n]o member or person shall fail to provide information or testimony or to permit an inspection and copying of books, records, or accounts pursuant to this Rule.” Do you need a California FINRA Securities Arbitration Attorney? Did your California stockbroker or investment advisor recommend an investment that turned out to be an investment that was never reviewed or approved by their stockbrokerage firm employer? The stockbrokers who stoop to that level are usually insolvent or uncollectible. And so, the investor’s only recourse is against the brokerage firm employer. But stockbrokerage firms always claim ignorance of the stockbroker’s activities and deny liability for the sale of unauthorized investments which they call Selling Away as if that was an absolute defense. Not so! You will definitely need an experienced attorney who knows the securities laws and how to hold the stockbrokerage firm responsible for their employees Selling Away under legal principles of actual authority, apparent authority, estoppel and failure to supervise. If your attorney knows where to look he/she can often find Red Flags of the alleged unauthorized sales that the firm did not look for, missed, or saw and just ignored. Free Initial Consultation With  Experienced Ponzi Scheme Lawyers Representing Irvine, California Residents in FINRA Arbitrations At The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A.  we represent investors in all kinds of securities, commodities, and investment law disputes in FINRA, AAA and JAMS arbitration and mediation proceedings. Attorney Pearce and his staff represent investors throughout California, and across the United States on a CONTINGENCY FEE basis which means you pay nothing – NO FEES-NO COSTS – unless we put money in your pocket after receiving a settlement or FINRA arbitration award. Se habla español For dedicated representation by Attorney Pearce with over 40 years of experience and success in all kinds of securities, commodities, and investment law disputes serving California citizens, contact the firm by phone at 561-338-0037, toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail.

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Irvine, California Attorney Who Sues For Failure to Supervise Stockbroker

Did Robert Lansing Hicks Cause You Investment Losses? Finance 500, Inc. of Irvine, California, and Robert Lansing Hicks submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to FINRA for allegedly failing to establish and implement an anti-money laundering (AML) program. FINRA found that between 2005 and 2014, Robert Hicks, who was Finance 500’s owner President, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Compliance Officer and designated Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer, and Finance 500, failed to implement and enforce adequate supervisory policies in order to oversee the market making activities of low-priced stocks, sales of unregistered low-priced securities, the review and retention of emails, and the implementation and delegation of supervisory responsibilities. FINRA found the firm’s daily trade blotter captured the equity transactions, but failed to capture any information about the customer. Moreover, FINRA found that Finance 500 opened at least 300 accounts without properly verifying the account holders’ identities, a violation of proper compliance with the firm’s Customer Identification Program (CIP). Without admitting or denying the FINRA findings, Finance 500 and Robert Hicks agreed to the FINRA sanctions in which the firm was censured and fined $400,000, of which $25,000 is joint and several with Mr. Hicks. Mr. Hicks was also suspended from association with any FINRA member in any principal capacity for nine (9) months. California has thousands of stock brokerage firms and investment advisory offices.  With so many stock brokerage firms comes the potential for a stock brokerage firm to fail to supervise its stockbrokers, financial advisors and investment advisors from engaging in misconduct which violates Federal and California securities laws and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules and the stock brokerage firm’s policies and procedures.  Experienced Lawyers Who Handle Failure to Supervise Stockbroker Claims In FINRA Arbitrations Throughout California and Nationwide. Are you a California investor who has suffered significant losses in your stock brokerage and investment accounts?  Did your California stock brokerage or investment advisory firm where you do business fail to supervise the stockbroker who recommended bad investments and otherwise mismanage your investment account? If so, you will need to hire an experienced, highly-rated and nationally recognized FINRA securities arbitration lawyer— an attorney who knows how to handle these failure to supervise cases as well as other complex legal issues.  Do You Need A California Attorney Who Sues For Failure to Supervise Stockbroker? By hiring a top rated attorney like Robert Wayne Pearce with over 40 years of experience with failure to supervise claims by practicing securities law on both sides of the table in FINRA arbitration proceedings, you will clearly see that Attorney Pearce doesn’t just handle cases—he aggressively represents investors and is one of the best lawyers to recover your investment losses due to a stock brokerage or investment advisory firm’s failure to supervises its registered representatives in FINRA arbitration proceedings! At The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., we represent investors with failure to supervise claims and all kinds of securities law and investment disputes in FINRA arbitration and mediation proceedings. We handle a wide range of practice areas such asfraud and misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, theft, forgery, margin account abuse and unsuitable recommendations to purchase, sell or hold securities or recommend unsuitable investments strategies.  Attorney Pearce and his staff represent investors throughout California, and across the United States on a CONTINGENCY FEE basis, which means you pay nothing – NO FEES-NO COSTS – unless we put money in your pocket after receiving a settlement or FINRA arbitration award. Se habla español Free Initial Consultation With An Attorney Experienced In Failure to Supervise Stockbroker Disputes Serving California Residents In FINRA Arbitrations The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. are highly experienced lawyers who successfully handle failure to supervise claims and other securities law matters and investment disputes in California, and who work tirelessly to secure the best possible result for you and your case.  For dedicated representation by an attorney with over 40 years of experience and success in failure to supervise and all kinds of securities law and investment disputes serving California citizens, contact the firm by phone at 561-338-0037, toll free at 800-732-2889 or via e-mail. 

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