The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker David Shapiro. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, David Shapiro has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.
David Shapiro was a New York based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for thirty-nine years. During his career, he was registered with fourteen different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.
His Registrations
- Capital Analysts (1976-1977)
- Bache Halsey Stuart Shields Incorporated (1977-1978)
- L.F. Rothschild, Unterberg, Towbin (1978-1979)
- Fahnestock & Co. (1979-1981)
- Merrill Lynch (1980-1984)
- Cralin & Co. (1984-1985)
- Laidlaw Adams & Peck (1985)
- Prudential-Bache Securities (1985-1987)
- E.F. Hutton & Company (1987-1988)
- Lehman Brothers Inc. (1988-1993)
- Salomon Smith Barney (1993-2001)
- Gruntal & Co. (2001-2002)
- Ryan Beck & Co. (2002-2007)
- Stifel, Nicolaus & Company (2007-2017)
The Allegations
- In July 1990, a customer alleged that David Shapiro executed unsuitable transactions in their account that resulted in loss. This case was settled for $90,000 in damages.
- In December 1998, a customer alleged that David Shapiro made material misrepresentations, recommended unsuitable investments, and failed to follow instructions. This case went to arbitration where the customer was awarded $54,381 in damages.
- In April 2001, another customer alleged that David Shapiro failed to follow their instructions. This case was settled for $14,227 in damages.
- In July 2015, a customer alleged that David Shapiro engaged in both excessive trading and unauthorized trading in their account. This case was settled for $30,000 in damages.
- In December 2016, David Shapiro was officially sanctioned by FINRA. The findings in this matter state that he exercised discretion in a customer’s account without written authorization from the customer or having his member firm accept the account as discretionary. Due to these alleged actions, he was fined $5,000 and suspended from acting as a securities broker in any fashion for a period of fifteen business days.
What Does This Mean?
Securities brokers have a legal obligation to always act in the best interests of their customers. There are multiple different kinds of fraudulent and/or negligent acts that many less than scrupulous securities brokers partake in despite this obligation. One such act that Shapiro was accused of was churning, or excessive trading. This fraudulent trading practice occurs when a broker trades a customer’s account excessively, even though it serves no actual financial benefit to the customer. Rather this act is committed with the express purpose of generating additional and/or larger commissions for themselves. Churning can be incredibly detrimental to customers due to the amount of unnecessary fees and losses they will incur. When investors lose significant amounts from their principal investment due to unnecessary fees racking up, it becomes almost impossible for them to make any profit under anything other than booming market conditions.
Oakes & Fosher Can Help
Many investors are unaware of the legal recourse available to them after losing money due to securities broker fraud and/or negligence. The truth is that investors who have lost money in this fashion may actually be entitled to damages.
Oakes & Fosher dedicates its entire legal practice to helping investors across the nation. If you, or someone you know, have lost money investing with David Shapiro, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation. Oakes & Fosher handles cases on a contingency basis, which means there are no fees charged unless we collect for you.