Richard Joseph Gobel, a former broker with Fairport, New York based Wall Street Financial Group, Inc., submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he consented to the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA) findings that he exercised discretionary power in customers' accounts without the customers' written authorization to place discretionary trades. The findings stated that Mr. Gobel failed to obtain his member firm's written acceptance of the accounts as discretionary and falsely declared to the firm that he was not placing trades on a discretionary basis in customer accounts. Mr. Gobel, of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 45 business days. The fine must be paid either immediately upon Mr. Gobel's re-association with a FINRA member firm following his suspension, or prior to the filing of any application or request for relief from any statutory disqualification, whichever is earlier. Mr. Gobel's suspension is in effect from February 19, 2013, through April 23, 2013.
A discretionary account is an account that allows a broker to buy and sell securities without the client's consent. A discretionary account is sometimes referred to as a managed account. Sometimes certain guidelines are set by the client regarding trading in the account. For example, a client might only permit investments in blue chip stocks. The client must sign a discretionary account trading authorization form with the brokerage firm. The execution of any transaction without the client's permission or without a signed discretionary account trading authorization is in violation of FINRA's rules.
Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect customers from broker misconduct. If broker-dealers do not establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system, they may be liable to investors for damages flowing from the misconduct. Therefore, investors who have suffered damages due to Mr. Gobel's discretionary activity can bring forth claims to recover losses against Wall Street Financial Group, which should have prevented Mr. Gobel from committing the described illegal activity.
Have you suffered losses in your Wall Street Financial Group, Inc. account due to unauthorized trades or any other prohibited activity? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.
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