Todd Kimm Suspended By FINRA Following Allegations Of Unsuitable Short-Term Trading

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

Todd Kimm was a New York based securities broker. He worked in the securities industry for twenty-one years. During his career, he was registered with just two different securities firms. He is no longer working as a registered securities broker in any fashion.

His Registrations

• Merrill Lynch (1996-2014)


• Commonwealth Financial Network (2014-2017)

The Allegations

• In November 1999, a customer alleged that Todd Kimm recommended highly unsuitable variable annuities.


• In June 2014, customers alleged that Todd Kimm excessively traded their account, recommended unsuitable investments, and executed unauthorized trades. The alleged transgressions taking place between 2009 and 2013. This case was settled for $775,000 in damages.


• In January 2018, FINRA claimed that Todd Kimm recommended over 100 unsuitable short-term trades of long-term investment products and eight unsuitable mutual fund switches in a customer's account. FINRA determined that Kimm had no reasonable basis to believe that such short-term trading was suitable for any customer, let alone the one for which he had been trading. The customer incurred approximately $200,000 in losses due to Kimm's alleged actions. FINRA fined him $5,000 and suspended him from acting as a securities broker in any fashion for a period of six months.

What Does This Mean?

Different securities are designed to be held onto for different periods of time. For instance, there is a product known as a leveraged ETF that is designed to be bought and then sold again within a single trading day. However, there a great deal of securities that are designed to be held onto for longer periods of time. Products like that are ones that take a little time to mature and usually come with higher sales charges. Short-term trading of products like this is almost always unsuitable for any investor. This is because the securities are sold before the investor sees any returns on the investment and the excessive trading racks up a great deal of unnecessary sales charges that causes the investor's principal investment to deteriorate.

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 Todd Kimm, please contact Oakes & Fosher for a free and private consultation.