Robert Estevez suspended by FINRA
In September, 2016, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Robert Estevez of Greenwich, CT, a registered representative with Joseph Gunnar and Company submitted an acceptance, waiver and consent letter whereby he was suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for two months and ordered to pay a fine of $20,000. The FINRA complaint asserted that Robert Estevez recommended steepeners to his clients, which are highly complicated synthetic investment products that attempt to measure and profit from the difference between long term and short term interest rates.
The market for steepeners is illiquid, making their use unsuitable for most customers. FINRA found that Estevez recommended a short term trading strategy using steepeners, which, given their illiquid nature, resulted in losses when the clients were unable to recoup their original purchase price.
Registration and disciplinary history
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, a registered rep must either be registered or exempt from registration.
Robert Estevez is presently registered with Joseph Gunnar and Company. Prior to that he was registered with Investors Capital Corp from December, 2008 through September, 2016.
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, Robert Estevez has been the subject of five customer complaints and three regulatory investigations.
The Law Office of David Liebrader practices exclusively in the field of investment loss recovery. For the past 23 years, we have dedicated our law practice to assisting investors who have been victims of investment fraud via fraudulent and unsuitable investment transactions. During that time we have recovered money for over one thousand individuals, pension plans, trusts and companies. The recoveries we have obtained via judgments, awards and settlements on behalf of our clients exceed $40,000,000.
When investors contact our firm they can expect prompt attention, and a detailed analysis of their issues. Typical claims that we are asked to review involve “unsuitability (where a financial advisor makes investment recommendations that are inconsistent with a customer’s investment objectives), claims for “churning” (where a broker enters into an excessive number of trades for the purpose of generating commissions), claims involving illiquid investments such as private placements (I.e., real estate investment trusts, limited partnerships, equipment leasing and oil and gas drilling programs) as well as claims for violations of state securities laws, which often provide investors remedies like attorney’s fees and interest, if they are successful on the claim.
If you suspect that you have been the victim of investment fraud, or had a financial advisor recommend unsuitable investments to you, call us today for a free, confidential consultation at (702) 380-3131.