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IAVARONE LAW FIRM FILES SERIES OF ARBITRATIONS TO RECOVER DEFERRED COMPENSATION AND FOR ABUSIVE LOAN REPAYMENT DEDUCTIONS
The Iavarone Law Firm has filed a series of FINRA arbitrations to recover damages for abusive deductions of loan re-payments from broker’s monthly compensation leaving them will little or no take home pay. The firm has also filed a series of related arbitrations seeking to recover deferred compensation for brokers who were either terminated or forced to leave their firms. The claims have been filed against UBS, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
THE IAVARONE FILES LEHMAN BROTHERS STRUCTURED NOTE ARBITRATION AGAINST UBS
The Iavarone Law Firm, after having obtained a record recovery of over $ 4million in a Lehman Brothers structured note arbitration against Neuberger Berman earlier this month has filed another FINRA arbitration involving Lehman Brothers structured notes. This latest arbitration is against UBS and involves the sale of a series of Lehman Brothers structured notes sold during 2007 and 2008. The claim alleges that the customer was misled into investing in the structured notes by the “principally protected” feature touted by UBS. The arbitration seeks recovery of the amount invested, interest, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.
THE IAVARONE LAW FIRM OBTAINS $5 MILLION ARBITRATION AWARD IN LEHMAN BROTHERS STRUCTURED NOTE CASE AGAINST NEUBERGER BERMAN
The $5 million arbitration award against Neuberger Berman and Brian Hahn for the sale of Lehman Brothers Structured Notes to three customers who were sold Lehman Brothers Structured Notes (comBATS and XLF) in the summer of 2008. The FINRA arbitration panel granted the customers rescission of their $4 million in purchases of the structured notes. The arbitration award also included $1 million for one the customer’s investment in LibertyView Credit Select, a proprietary Neuberger Berman fund that hypothecated assets to Lehman Brothers, Neuberger Berman’s then parent company. The Panel also award approximately $450,000 in interest. The Illinois customer was also awarded attorney’s fees under the state’s consumer protection law. Read the award.
The case is one of several actions being pursued by The Iavarone Law Firm involving the sale of Lehman Brothers structured products by Neuberger Berman and UBS.
THE IAVARONE LAW FIRM SEEKS INJUNCTION AGAINST FINRA ON BEHALF Of BROKERS TO CEASE ENFORCEMENT OF “TAPING RULE”
The Iavarone Law Firm has filed a class action suit in federal court in Chicago to enjoin the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) from enforcing its “taping rule” involving brokers who had been associated with what FINRA designates as a “Disciplined Firm.” The “taping rule” requires broker/dealers to institute taping of broker telephone conversations and instituting heightened supervision procedures when the number of “tainted” brokers employed by the firm reaches certain levels. The lawsuit alleges that, by not providing brokers who were previously registered with a “Disciplined firm” a means to establish that they did not participate in the firms wrongful conduct, FINRA is denying the brokers of due process of law. Read the complaint.>
THE IAVARONE LAW FIRM FILES SUIT ON BEHALF OF MERRILL LYNCH BROKERS WHO WERE VICTIMS OF DEFAMATORY U-5
The Iavarone Law Firm has filed a FINRA arbitration on behalf of three former Merrill Lynch brokers who were subject to a campaign of false statements to discourage their customers from continuing to do business with the brokers at the new firm. The campaign included the filing of inaccurate U-5 information.
The Iavarone has prosecuted similar cases, most of which have been settled. But, in a recent case that went to hearing, The Iavarone Law Firm represented a three-broker team were terminated by their brokerage firm. The firm then filed U-5s accusing the brokers of violating firm policies and industry standards. The firm alleged that the brokers had been engaging in prohibited mutual fund timing practices, and for one of the brokers filed documents with the State of Illinois that held up the broker’s registration for six months. After a two week hearing, an arbitration panel found the U-5s to be defamatory and awarded the three brokers a total of $627,700 in compensatory damages, $1,307,697 in punitive damages, and recommended that the reason for brokers’ termination on their U-5s be changed from “terminated for failure to follow firm policy and industry standards” to terminated because office was closed.
While most firms concentrate on slander as a cause of action for an inaccurate or false U-5, other causes of action are frequently more suited to the individual broker’s situation. Slander has a short statute of limitations period and is not available in either New York or California. Other claims, such as disparagement and intentional interference with contractual relationships can circumvent the jurisdictional and statute of limitations problems faced in a slander claim. Also, since all of these cases must be submitted to FINRA arbitration, a viable but frequently overlooked cause of action is the violation of FINRA’s fair dealing requirements.
Also, the filing of an inaccurate or false U-5 is generally just a symptom of attempts by management to cover their own misdeeds (as occured in FINRA Arb. No. 04-00256 in which The Iavarone Law Firm recovered $830,000 in compensatory damages and $1.3 million in punitive damages), to discriminate or force a broker to leave so that his or her book can be distributed throughout the office or as justification for the refusal to pay a bonus (as occurred in FINRA Arb. No. 06-01261 in which The Iavarone Law Firm recovered the entire $260,000 in back-end compensation plus $200,000 for sexual harassment, and $80,000 in attorney’s fees) that is almost vested or as a means to avoid paying the broker fees on a recently closed (or more frequently, about to be closed) piece of business.
THE IAVARONE LAW FIRM RECOVERS PUNITIVE DAMAGES ON CLAIM FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT
The Iavarone Law Firm successfully prosecuted a claim on behalf of a broker who was denied compensation on her large sale of a private placement. The broker was subjected to a pervasive campaign of sexual harassment to force her to resign from the firm in order to avoid paying her the substantial back-end compensation owed for her sale of one of the firms private placements.
The sexual harassment, as frequently happens, grew out of jealously at the broker’s success and was countenanced by management who wanted the broker to “quit” so that she would forfeit the back-end payout that she had earned on a large placement. In this case, FINRA Arb. No. 06-01261, The Iavarone Law Firm recovered the entire $260,000 in back-end compensation owed the broker plus $200,000 for sexual harassment as well as $80,000 in attorney’s fees.
THE IAVARONE LAW FIRM RECOVERS UNPAID COMPENSATION FOR UBS BROKERS IN CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
The Iavarone Law Firm successfully filed suit in the Federal District in Chicago, Illinois to recover underpayment of commissions earned by UBS brokers who sold auction rate securities over a seven-year period. The underpayment resulted from a computer glitch that used yearly formulas that erroneously calculated the commissions when auction rate securities had a life-span of from only one to four weeks. The case had one of the highest “‘op-in” rates for class actions in federal court in Chicago, meaning that most of the brokers who received notice received compensation from the settlement.
Underpayment is just one method used to deny brokers their compensation. Nick has represented a number of brokers who were “let go” just before the annual bonus was due to be paid or just before a significant piece of business that the broker was instrumental in obtaining, closed.
THE IAVARONE LAW FIRM PROSECUTES CASES INVOLVING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF LEHMAN BROTHERS STRUCTURED NOTES
The Iavarone Law Firm currently is prosecution claims on behalf of five investor who purchased millions of dollars of Lehman Brothers structured notes unaware that they were purchasing Lehman brothers debt obligations. The structured notes became virtually worthless when Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy in September of 2008.
The Lehman Brothers structured products are just one more misconceived product that has been foisted on the investment public by firms that look at their customer accounts as piggy banks that they get to raid on a reoccurring basis. Auction rate securities, private placements, hedge funds, and other such products have cost investor hundreds of millions of dollars.
THE IAVARONE LAW FIRM FILES SUIT ON BEHALF OF STARTING NEW ORLEANS SAINTS DEFENSIVE END ALEX BROWN
The Iavarone Law Firm has filed two lawsuits on behalf of New Orleans Saints Starting Defense End Alex Brown to recover losses suffered from investments in various private placements. The cases were filed in the Circuit Court in Lake County, Illinois. The suits allege that Alex, like many investors, put his trust in the wrong individuals. Trusting his advisors, Alex invested in various complicated investments that he did not understand. The risks were not adequately disclosed. (Click here to read story) Alex Brown is one of several players that Nick is helping recover funds invested in private placements and fraudulent investment schemes.
Private placements are fertile environment for fraud. The high upfront commissions and back-end payments to brokers make this attractive to brokers who either unwittingly or, all too frequently, knowingly sell these securities without adequately disclosing the risk and drawback of the investment some of which are simply Ponzi schemes. Investors who have recently been the beneficiary of an early buyout, inheritance, property settlement, or have otherwise been the recipient of a large infusion of money such has athletes signing new contracts, are the prime targets. Often the returns that are promised seem too good to be true because they are, in fact, too good to be true. One of the ruses used to market these “deals” are the broker has been given “access” to a limited amount of the “deal” and the investor must, therefore, hurry and “not miss” the opportunity. Another pitch is that this is a “deal” to which only rich people have access and so now the investor with the new funds available can be like the rich and get richer. That only people with a high net worth can be approved to purchase these “deals” is a half-truth. Because the risks are so great, the regulators want to make sure that an investor thinking of putting money in one of these “deals” can afford to lose every penny without losing their home or forego medical treatment.
Click On The Book Cover To Read An Excerpt About Nick’s Prosecution Of A Notorious Mob Hit Man
“With Harry under indictment for murder, rumors were rife that outfit bosses had imported a hit squad from California to take out Iavarone . . .”
