The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the possible misconduct of former securities broker Ricardo Turlan. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Ricardo Turlan has been the subject of a customer dispute.
Ricardo Turlan was a Texas based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for fourteen years. During his career, he was registered with five different securities firms.
His Registrations
- Citicorp Investment Services (2001-2002)
- BBVA Investments (2006-2009)
- BBVA Compas Investment Solutions (2009-2013)
- BBVA Securities (2013-2015)
- UBS Financial Services (2015-2019)
The Allegations
In March 2019, a customer alleged that Ricardo Turlan exercised discretion in her account even though she did not formally authorize it. She also alleged that Ricardo Turlan misrepresented the fact that he would charge her commissions in 2018. This case was settled for $110,000 in damages. Ricardo Turlan was discharged from his position at UBS Financial Services in July 2019 following the allegations of engaging in an unauthorized use of discretion.
What is Discretion?
Securities brokers like Ricardo Turlan are obligated to always act in the best financial interests of their customers. A major part of this means obtaining their authorization before executing trades on their behalf. Investors are entitled to the opportunity to decide for themselves if they want to be invested in a particular investment.
There is a trading practice known as discretion where securities brokers are allowed to execute trades in a customer’s account without having to obtain their authorization. However, before a broker can begin engaging in discretionary trading, they must first receive express written permission from the customer in question and have their member firm accept the account as suitable for discretionary trading. Securities brokers are not allowed begin their discretionary trading after receiving verbal permission from the customer. This is because less sophisticated investors are usually unaware what they have agreed to as they do not fully understand what discretionary trading actually is.
Discretionary trading can be a very slippery slope due to the amount of power it gives to the broker. Less than scrupulous securities brokers can use this opportunity to place their customers in trades they are not suited for, or trade their customers’ accounts excessively to generate larger commissions.
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 Ricardo Turlan, 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.
