The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of securities broker Stephen Courtney. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Stephen Courtney has been the subject of multiple customer disputes over the course of his career.
Stephen Courtney is a California based securities broker. He has worked in the securities industry for thirty-six years. During his career, he has been registered with three different securities firms.
His Registrations
- Merrill Lynch (1983-1993)
- Citigroup Global Markets (1993-2007)
- Stifel Nicolaus & Company (2007-Present)
The Allegations
- In August 1998, a customer alleged that Stephen Courtney recommended unsuitable investments. This case was settled for $13,500 in damages.
- In January 2019, customers alleged that Stephen Courtney managed their account negligently, recommended unsuitable investments, made negligent misrepresentations and omissions of material facts, made fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions of material facts, committed fraud, and violated California securities laws. This case was settled for $70,000 in damages.
Negligence
Securities brokers, like Stephen Courtney, have a legal obligation to always act in the best interests of their customers. Part of this means conducting the necessary due diligence to handle their customer’s accounts to this best of their ability. When brokers let this responsibility go awry, their customers can suffer financially for it. Negligence turns out to be one of the most common things that securities brokers are accused of.
Misrepresentation
Misrepresentation is a very serious charge, as it can often result in very serious financial harm to an investor. Essentially, misrepresentation occurs when a securities broker provides an investor with information that has been falsified or obscured in some manner. This can be either on purpose, in an attempt to defraud the investor, or by accident through the broker’s negligence. In this case, customers were also alleging that Courtney had omitted facts regarding investments. Regardless of the broker’s intent, misrepresentation can cause significant losses in an investor’s account as it can lead to them making crucial financial decisions based on misinformation.
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 Stephen Courtney, 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.
