The law firm of Oakes & Fosher is presently investigating the alleged misconduct of former securities broker Thomas Meier. According to his publicly available FINRA BrokerCheck report, Thomas Meier has been the subject of multiple customer disputes.
Thomas Meier was a Florida based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for thirty two years. During his career, he was registered with seven different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.
His Registrations
- Merrill Lynch (1984-1984)
- Amerifirst Securities (1985-1989)
- Thomson McKinnon Securities (1989)
- FAIC Securities (1983-1989)
- Prudential Securities Incorporated (1989-1992)
- Citigroup Global Markets (1992-2009)
- Morgan Stanley (2009-2016)
The Allegations
- In March 2016, customers alleged that Thomas Meier made material misrepresentations concerning the liquidity of their investments. The alleged transgressions taking place between 2013 and 2016. This case was settled for $497,245 in damages.
- Also in March 2016, another customer alleged that Thomas Meier made material misrepresentations. The alleged transgressions taking place between March 2012 and March 2016. This case was settled for $215,000 in damages.
- Also in March 2016, a customer alleged that Thomas Meier executed unauthorized trades and excessively traded her account. The alleged transgressions taking place between 2012 and 2016. This case was settled for $366,577 in damages.
- In April 2016, a client’s son alleged that Thomas Meier executed unauthorized trades in his parent’s account. This case was settled for $50,000 in damages.
- Also in April 2016, a customer alleged that Thomas Meier made misrepresentations about her investments. This case was settled for $40,580 in damages.
- In August 2016, customers alleged that Thomas Meier acted irresponsibly while investing their money. This case was settled for $90,000 in damages.
- Also in August 2016, a client alleged that Thomas Meier executed unauthorized trades and made risky investments in their account. This case was settled for $37,610 in damages.
- Also in August 2016, a customer alleged that Thomas Meier breached his fiduciary duty and handled their account negligently. This case was settled for $300,000 in damages.
- In September 2016, a customer alleged that Thomas Meier recommended unsuitable investments. This case was settled for $60,000 in damages.
- In December 2016, a customer alleged that Thomas Meier made unsuitable investment recommendations and churned their account. This case was settled $250,000 in damages.
- Also in December 2016, a customer alleged that Thomas Meier over concentrated her account in unsuitable energy investments. This case was settled for $80,000 in damages.
- In January 2017, customers alleged that Thomas Meier breached his fiduciary duty and handled their account negligently. This case was settled for $450,000 in damages.
- In October 2017, a customer alleged that Thomas Meier recommended unsuitable securities. This case was settled for $49,999 in damages.
- In March 2018, Thomas Meier was sanctioned by FINRA. The findings in this matter state that he allegedly affected almost 1,300 transactions without authorization. These unauthorized transactions mainly involved the trading of equity securities. None of the accounts were approved for discretionary trading and none of the trades had been discussed with the customers previously to them being executed. These alleged unauthorized actions resulted in significant losses to his customers. These transactions gave Meier around $265,000 in ill-gotten commissions. Due to these allegations, he was barred by FINRA from acting as a securities broker in any fashion.
Unauthorized Trading
Whenever securities brokers like Thomas Meier plan to execute a trade on an investor’s behalf, they must receive said investor’s authorization to do so. This is because the investor still has final say regarding what they are ultimately invested in. Just because they have hired a securities broker to recommend suitable securities, does not mean they have surrendered this right. Unauthorized trading can often occur because a securities broker knows the investment they are recommending is highly unsuitable, or because they want to execute numerous unnecessary trades to increase the amount they receive in commissions–which can often be financially detrimental 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 Thomas Meier, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation.