November 3, 2016-Overland Park, KS
The Kansas City Star reports that VSR Financial, which has been in business since 1984, it shutting down and moving its brokers and customers to other related firms in the Cetera Financial Group.
VSR Financial had about 215 brokers in 58 branches nationwide.
VSR has had several significant regulatory issues to deal with in the recent years:
Alternative Investment Issue
In May 2013, VSR Financial Services was fined $550,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in connection with the sale of alternative investments similar to United Development Funding. In their findings, FINRA criticised VSR Financial for recommending high concentration levels of alternative investments in customer accounts and for its lack of supervision over the use of consolidated reports prepared by brokers and provided to customers.
Alternative investments include non publicly traded real estate investment trusts (REITS) , hedge funds, real estate, commodities and derivatives contracts and, managed futures. It may also include art, wine, antiques, coins or stamps. These investments tend to be complex, illiquid, nontransparent, hard to value and expensive. Many of the alternative investments sold over recent years are not traded on any public market making them difficult to value and even more difficult to liquidate if cash is needed.
For more information related to VSR Financial’s alternative investment issues, follow this link.
Variable Annuity Sales Issue
In October 2016, VSR Financial was censured and fined $400,000 for various supervisory issues related to the sale of variable annuities to customers. Related entities Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Financial Specialists, First Allied Securities and Summit Brokerage Services were also sanctioned by FINRA for supervisory failures related to the sales of variable annuities.
Follow this link to 10/2016 VSR Financial FINRA Sanction for Variable Annuity Sales Violations
If you have losses in an account in an account at VSR Financial Services , contact us to discuss how you may be able to recover damages for those losses.
Rex Securities Law , with offices in Boca Raton, FL, and Austin, TX, provides representation to investors nationwide who are seeking recovery of investment losses due to the negligence or fraud of stockbrokers and broker dealers. If you have questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney.
Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.
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