In October, 2015, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that H. Beck submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) in which the firm was censured and fined $40,000.
Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to enforce its written supervisory procedures regarding on-going due diligence. The findings stated that H. Beck’s written supervisory procedures provided that the firm would conduct an ongoing review of the companies with which it maintained a business relationship, and would report any significant developments to senior management.
However, the firm failed to conduct adequate ongoing due diligence on three private placement funds. The findings also stated that the firm failed to detect and investigate the deterioration of the financial condition of the funds and the funds’ investment adviser.
H. Beck’s registration and disciplinary history
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, one must either be registered or exempt from registration. H. Beck is registered with the SEC, one self regulatory organization and in 52 states and territories. According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, H. Beck has been the subject of four customer complaints and fourteen regulatory investigations.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery and our securities attorneys have successfully resolved over 1000 investment loss cases over the past 20 years. Recoveries for clients top $40 million. The types of claims we have successfully handled include those involving unsuitable investments (suitability claims), excessive trading or “churning”, misrepresentations and omissions, unauthorized trading, over-concentration of illiquid or overly risky investments, pump and dump scams involving “penny stocks”, direct participation programs (private placements) involving real estate investment trusts (REITS), oil and gas exploration programs, leasing equipment deals and receivable financing, promissory notes whether sold through a broker dealer or as part of the outside business activities of a registered representative, ponzi scheme losses, failure on the part of the broker dealer to perform due diligence, state securities law (blue sky) violations and failure to supervise.
Investment losses can be recovered through a process known as FINRA arbitration. FINRA regulates broker dealers that sell investments, and provides an arbitration forum to resolve investor disputes. Investors can pursue claims against their brokerage firms in the FINRA arbitration forum. Common claims in the forum are those for suitability, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentations and omissions, negligence, violation of FINRA rules, state and federal securities laws violations, elder abuse, breach of contract and failure to supervise. On average, the recovery process takes approximately a year, from start to finish.
FINRA’s rules require that all investment recommendations made by licensed financial advisors be suitable in light of a customer’s needs, objectives and risk tolerance. In addition, all registered representatives are required to be properly supervised, with periodic inspections and reviews by qualified supervisors, whose job it is to vigorously investigate suspicions of wrongdoing (red flags).
If you have suffered investment losses please call The Law Office of David Liebrader at (702) 380-3131 for a free, confidential consultation