Investor Claims
Financial advisors and securities firms (as well as accountants, lawyers and others) owe duties to investors when making investment recommendations. When those duties are breached causing the investor to lose money, the investor may have a legal claim for damages. Some claims are based on intentional misconduct, but several others are not. You may have a claim even if your broker had good intentions.
- Breach of Fiduciary Duty & Self Dealing– Financial advisors or securities firms often have fiduciary duties to their clients. A fiduciary is obligated to place the interests of the person to whom he owes the fiduciary duty (the investor) above his own interests. read more…
- Fraud/Misrepresentation & Failure to Disclose – Financial advisors are prohibited from making misrepresentations to investors. While not every misrepresentation gives rise to a claim, if you believe your financial advisor was not truthful with you regarding an read more…
- Improper Allocation & Failure to Diversify– Modern investment portfolio theory holds that the risk of a substantial decline in a portfolio’s value can be reduced by diversification both within asset classes (i.e., holding stocks in a number of different companies read more…
- Churning & Excessive Fees – The amount of fees to which a financial advisor or securities firm is entitled is typically governed by your contract. However, some investments are inherently unsuitable for most investors because an unreasonable read more…
- Ponzi Schemes – Behind any legitimate investment is the idea that some underlying business activity is generating income that will provide capital to repay investors the amount of their investment plus a profit. A chief attribute of so-called Ponzi schemes is the use of read more…
- Unauthorized Trading – Brokers and securities firms must have authorization from you to make trades on your behalf. Typically, brokerage accounts are “nondiscretionary,” which means each trade must be authorized by the customer before it is made. read more…
- Unregistered Securities – Federal law and the laws of most states, including Texas, govern whether a security must be registered. The sale of an unregistered security in violation of the law may give the investor the right to rescind the sale, i.e., to require the seller to read more…
- Unsuitability – Before recommending an investment, an advisor must have a reasonable basis to think the investment is appropriate (“suitable”) for your financial circumstances and investment objectives. The recommendation of unsuitable investments is one of the read more…
Securities fraud matters on behalf of investors include:
- Multiple FINRA Arbitrations representing investors in securities fraud claims against international financial services firm arising out of complex options trading strategy.
- Representation of numerous individual investors in suitability, breach of fiduciary duty and misrepresentation claims.
- Representation of a group of over 200 investors in FINRA Arbitrations against national investment and financial planning firm in securities fraud claims arising out of investments in real estate limited partnerships.
- Securities litigation on behalf of over 1000 investors who suffered significant losses investing in viatical contracts.
- Representation of investors in Stanford Financial Group.
The loss of hard-earned investment savings can be financially and emotionally devastating. Litigation and arbitration may be new to you. We will guide you through the arbitration/litigation process to make it easy and understandable. During your initial consultation, we will listen to you. We will evaluate whether you have a securities claim. And, we will clearly explain what you can expect from us and what we will expect from you so, together, we can successfully achieve your goals.
The investment and securities fraud attorneys at Moulton & Wilson, LLP have extensive experience representing individual investors in securities arbitration and litigation. Cindy Moulton and Michael Wilson have successfully represented thousands of clients in securities and investment fraud cases, with combined claims of hundreds of millions of dollars.
If you have suffered investment losses, you may be entitled to recover all or part of your investment.