Matthew Giannone Allegedly Churned His Customers’ Accounts

The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Matthew Giannone. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Matthew Giannone has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.

Matthew Giannone was a New York-based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for nineteen years. During his career, he was registered with three different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.

His Registrations

• Citigroup Global Markets (1997-2005)


• Merrill Lynch (2005-2013)


• Oppenheimer & Co. (2013-2016)

The Allegations 

• In February 2016, a customer alleged that Matthew Giannone made unsuitable investment recommendations on margin. This case was settled for $350,000 in damages.


• In February 2018, a customer alleged that Matthew Giannone breached his fiduciary duty, managed their account negligently, excessively traded their account, churned their account, breached contract, engaged in common law fraud, and committed constructive fraud. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $1,170,500 in damages.


• Also in February 2018, customers alleged that Matthew Giannone recommended unsuitable investments, excessively traded their account, breached his fiduciary duty, breached contract, committed securities fraud, committed common law fraud, and made material misrepresentations. This case was settled for $45,000 in damages.

Excessive Trading

Securities brokers receive compensation through either charging a commission on every transaction, or by charging an annual fee to customers for managing the brokerage account.  Charging a commission on every trade can lead a broker to buy or sell more frequently in order to earn more compensation. . This method of compensation can lead to a fraudulent method of trading known as excessive trading, or churning, where securities brokers trade an investor’s account excessively with the intent of increasing the amount of compensation they receive through commission.  Churning can be incredibly harmful to investors as it prevents their principal from growing as expected, can result in a securities broker making unsuitable trades they might not otherwise, and it causes the customer to incur the highly unnecessary charges paid to the brokers as their commissions. These charges can very easily rack up and significantly drain an investor’s principal.

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 Matthew Giannone, 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.