The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Michael Oromaner. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Michael Oromaner has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.
Michael Oromaner was a New York based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for seventeen years. During his career, he was registered with eighteen different securities firms. He is not currently working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.
His Registrations
- La Jolla Capital Corporation (1997)
- Walsh Manning Securities (1997)
- Lloyd Wade Securities (1997)
- Chatfield Dean & Co. (1997)
- May, Davis Group (1997-1998)
- Josephthal & Co. (1998-1999)
- National Securities Corporation (1999-2000)
- Whitehall Wellington Investments (2000)
- Harrison Securities (2001-2002)
- Continental Broker-Dealer Corp. (2003)
- EKN Financial Services (2004-2007)
- New Castle Financial Services (2007-2009)
- Prestige Financial Center (2009)
- Brookville Capital Partners (2009-2014)
- Legend Securities (2014-2015)
- Avenir Financial Group (2015-2016)
- Salomon Whitney Financial (2016)
- Cova Capital Partners (2016-2017)
The Allegations
- In September 1999, a customer alleged that Michael Oromaner engaged in unauthorized trading. This case was settled for $4,251 in damages.
- Also in September 1999, another customer alleged that Michael Oromaner executed unauthorized trades. This case was settled for $6,396 in damages.
- In February 2002, a customer alleged that Michael Oromaner executed unsuitable trades on margin. This case was settled for $150,000 in damages.
- In August 2007, another customer alleged that Michael Oromaner engaged in unauthorized trading. This case went to arbitration where the customer was awarded $29,277 in damages.
- In November 2009, Michael Oromaner resigned from his position at Prestige Financial Center amidst more allegations of unauthorized trading.
- In December 2014, a customer alleged that Michael Oromaner entered a series of unauthorized transactions. This case was settled for $12,895 in damages.
- In March 2016, a customer alleged that Michael Oromaner used high pressure sales techniques, recommended unsuitable investments, churned their account, and charged them excessive and hidden commissions. This case is currently pending. The customer is seeking $750,000 in damages.
- In November 2017, Michael Oromaner 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 approval from his member firm to treat the account as discretionary. Oromaner allegedly exercised discretion with forty-one transactions. Due to his alleged actions, he was fined $25,000, forced to pay $60,158 in restitution, and suspended from acting as a registered securities in any fashion for a period of two years.
- In April 2018, a customer alleged that Michael Oromaner churned their account, handled their account negligently, recommended unsuitable investments, executed unauthorized trades, and breached contract. This case went to arbitration where the customer was awarded $75,672 in damages.
What is Discretion?
Securities brokers, like Michael Oromaner, are required to obtain their customer’s authorization prior to executing transactions on their behalf. While investors hire securities brokers to recommend suitable investments, they have not forfeited their right to have final say regarding what they become invested in. Some investors are not aware of this and thus do not think anything is wrong when their broker executes trades without their authorization.
There is a trading practice known as discretion that allows securities brokers to execute trades in an investor’s account without having to obtain authorization for every trade. However, before a broker can begin this practice, the account holder must for provide them with express written authorization to do so. They must also have their member firm accept the account in question as suitable for discretionary trading.
Some securities brokers begin this practice simply on the customer’s verbal authorization; however, this is not sufficient because it leaves too much room open to the possibility that the investor was not fully aware what exactly they were agreeing to. The reason this is so crucial is because discretion can be very a slippery slope. This practice gives securities brokers an excess of power that now allows them to trade the account holder’s account unsuitably should they so desire. Brokers might begin placing investors in securities they are not financially suited for. They may also begin trading their investors’ accounts excessively. Both of these acts can cause serious financial harm to investors.
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 Michael Oromaner, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation. We work on a contingency basis which means there are no fees charged unless we collect for you.
