Securities Fraud Lawyer Blog
Mercury Securities hit with censure and fine
In July 2017, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that Mercury Securities of San Rafael, CA submitted an acceptance, waiver and consent letter regarding its failure to effectively approve and document private securities transactions made by their representatives. The firm was censured and fined $5,000.
FINRA’s allegations against Mercury Securities concerned the firm’s authorization of private securities transactions made by three of its brokers. They were compensated by outside businesses through these private transactions despite their Written Supervisory Procedures clearly stating that the representatives would need proper approval and written documentation of their outside business dealings. The AWC stated that the firm did not follow the correct protocol and failed to record adequate information about the private deals. It was also discovered that the firm did not record the transactions in their files and allowed the business dealings with their representatives to go unsupervised.
Registration and disciplinary history
In order to lawfully sell investments to the public, a firm must either be registered or exempt from registration. Mercury Securities is a California corporation formed in 2005 and registered with FINRA, the SEC and in 2 states and territories.
According to FINRA’s CRD disclosure report, Mercury Securities has been the subject of one regulatory investigation.
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.