Securities Fraud & Negligence Attorney In Charlotte, North Carolina

Misrepresentation is a “false statement of material fact made by one party which affects the other’s party decision in agreeing to a contract. Under rules governing the financial investment industry, an investment advisor and broker has a DUTY to disclose all pertinent factual and complete information in reference to the purchase or investment into any security. (i.e. stocks, bonds, cds, REITs, annuities, etc.).

A failure to disclose this information may hold the advisor and/or firm liable for the losses and investor suffers. With the internal experience that Mr. Starr has acquired from working for one of the largest independent broker dealers, he understands the rules and requirements that the broker dealers and financial advisors must satisfy.

An unsuitable investment is one in which it does not meet the investment objectives and goals of the investor. A financial advisor/broker has a duty to know and understand their client so that only investments that meet their clients’ goals are recommended.

Understanding a client's goals includes knowing the investment experience, goals, knowledge, risk tolerance, income and assets of every investor before making recommendations.

As these things change, the advisor/broker must also change and modify the client’s investments to continue to ensure that the investments recommended remain suitable to meet the client’s goals. If the advisor/broker recommends unsuitable investments and losses are suffered then the Starr Law Group can assist you in recovery. We have the tools needed to review the investments recommended and determine if they were suitable for your goals.

Unauthorized transactions are trades that a financial advisor or broker makes for a customer without the customer’s permission or authorization. Although under some circumstances, you may grant your advisor/broker “discretionary trading authority” this does not allow them to hide behind that cloak of protection.

An advisor/broker must still discuss every trade with you either before buying or before selling or they must not misuse or exceed their discretionary trading authority. Understanding if unauthorized trading has occurred takes a keen eye and understanding of each trade made by an advisor/broker. The Starr Law Group has the experience to review and understand if authorization was met for each trade and recover your losses.

Churning is the illegal and unethical practice by a broker of excessively trading assets in a clients account in order to generate commissions.

However, there have been instances of reverse churning. Reverse churning occurs when an advisor fails to manage or make appropriate trades in a clients account however, they are still receiving an account management fee for services not being performed.

Unfortunately, far too often nowadays people are the victim of Ponzi Schemes. A Ponzi scheme is a fake, false or fraudulent investment that financial advisors/brokers convince investors to invest in with a promise of high returns on their investment.

Many times these so-called “investments” are not properly authorized by the regulatory agencies. Far too often investors will suffer substantial losses at the hands of these invest schemes. Through Mr. Starr’s experience in the financial industry, he has seen and resolved several Ponzi scheme matters. He understands how they work and how to recognize if an investor has become a victim of one of these fraudulent investments. 

An advisor's permanent record is their calling card of their business. It is one of the first things that an investment client looks to in order to ascertain the trustworthiness of the advisor and his/her practice. At times, financial advisors may be the subject of complaints that must be disclosed on their U4/U5. Sometimes these disclosures were the result of fact less allegations and can have a detrimental effect on the advisors business. The Starr Law Group may be able to assist you in clearing your name and expunging the disclosure from your record.