The Investment Center Fined $50K For Sale of Energy Stocks to Texas Residents

The Investment Center Fined $50K For Sale of Energy Stocks to Texas Residents 150 150 Robert Rex, Esq.

August 2016- Austin Texas

The Texas State Securities Board (TSSB) sanctioned The Investment Center, Inc. , a New Jersey securities dealer registered in Texas for failing to supervise one of their stock brokers who overloaded a client account with low-priced securities of energy companies.

The Investment Center was fined by TSSB and assessed a fine of $50,000. According to the TSSB Consent Order:

  •  A review of the clients’ accounts revealed that a majority of those clients held more than 95% of their total assets in equities, with shares of energy companies comprising 100% of their equity holdings. In most of the accounts reviewed, clients’ entire equities holdings were shares in a single company.

  • The agent recommended clients buy low-priced shares of energy companies even when the clients indicated they had a low tolerance for risk.

  • The Investment Center did not speak with any of the clients to confirm that the activity in their accounts was in line with their objectives and risk tolerances or that the broker was seeking the clients’ pre-approval prior to purchasing the concentrated positions.

 

  • The Investment Center failed to adequately address internal alert reports. These alerts were based on the concentrated equity positions in client accounts, the decline in value of certain accounts, and the agent’s pattern of amending some clients’ customer information to include “speculation” as an acceptable level of risk.

If you have losses in an account handled by The Investment Center, you may be able to recover damages through FINRA arbitration.

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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Rex Securities Law

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