John William Bernard Allegedly Engages In Discretionary Trading Without Proper Authorization

The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker John William Bernard. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, John William Bernard has beeen the subject of customer disputes and a FINRA sanction.

John William Bernard was a California based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for twenty-two years. During his career, he was registered with three different securities firms.

His Registrations

• Morgan Stanley DW Inc. (1995-2005)


• LPL Financial LLC (2003-2015)


• Independent Financial Group (2015-2017)

• In February 2015, John William Bernard was terminated from his position at LPL Financial due to allegations that he violated the firm's policy relating to time and price discretion.


• In March 2015, a customer alleged that John William Bernard recommended unsuitable securities and churned their account. This case was settled for $15,975 in damages.


• In December 2015, a customer alleged that John William Bernard executed unauthorized trades and churned their account. This case was settled for $11,729 in damages.


• In December 2017, John William Bernard was officially sanctioned by FINRA. The findings in this matter state that he allegedly exercised discretion in the accounts of seven customers without having obtained prior written authorization from the customers and without approval from his member firm. Due to these allegations, he was fined $5,000 and suspended for a period of twenty days.

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 John William Bernard, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation.