Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog
Ascendiant Capital Markets of Irvine, California submitted an Offer of Settlement in which the firm was censured and fined $20,000. Without admitting or denying the allegations, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it failed to timely update registered representatives’ Forms U4 to reflect Wells notices that they were the subjects of FINRA investigations. The findings stated that Ascendiant Capital Markets also failed to timely update a registered representative’s Form U4 to reflect that the representative was subject to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax lien. The findings also stated that the firm failed to timely report a complaint and subsequent arbitration claim made against the firm and one of its registered representatives to FINRA. The customer claimed that certain trades were unauthorized and made a demand for damages. The findings also included that Ascendiant Capital Markets did not have adequate written procedures and it failed to implement its supervisory system adequately with regard to customer-complaint reporting and Form U4 disclosure. (FINRA Case #2010023220507)
Ascendiant Capital Markets’ registration and disciplinary history
Ascendiant Capital Markets is registered with the SEC, five SROS and in 27 states.
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, Ascendiant Capital Markets has been the subject of five 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