On March 7, 2018, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) barred Mark Kaplan, former Vanderbilt Securities LLC stock broker, from associating with firms registered with FINRA. FINRA registers and regulates stock brokers and brokerage firms.
FINRA reported Mark Kaplan’s bar a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”). The AWC states Kaplan was barred for willfully excessively trading a 93-year-old customer’s brokerage accounts between Marsh 2011 and March 2015 in order to generate large trading commissions for himself. According to the AWC, the excessive trades “resulted in approximately $723,000 in trading losses and generated approximately $735,000 in commissions and markups for Kaplan and” Vanderbilt Securities. Kaplan’s conduct violated provisions of FINRA’s rules and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that prohibit using schemes to defraud others, said FINRA. Kaplan and Vanderbilt paid the customer’s guardian $470,000 to settle an arbitration claim.
FINRA’s records state six other customers had previously filed claims against Kaplan alleging excessive, unauthorized, or unsuitable trades. Two were filed in 2007, one in 2011, two in 2015, and one in 2016. Those claims were settled for amounts ranging from $11,487 to $500,000.
Mark Kaplan entered the securities industry in 1995 and was registered as a General Securities Representative with six different firms. From June 2009 through March 2011, he was registered with Morgan Stanley. In March 2011, Morgan Stanley reported to FINRA that it had terminated Kaplan due to a “client complaint and other concerns regarding activity in client accounts.”
Following his termination, Kaplan was hired by Vanderbilt Securities, LLC where he was registered from March 2011 through February 2018. While at Vanderbilt, Kaplan worked out of a Woodbury, New York branch office.
Recovery Options for Losses to Churning and Excessive Trading
If you invested with Mark Kaplan, Marquardt Law Office LLC is interested in speaking with you.
Security laws and rules prohibit brokers, like Mark Kaplan, from excessively trading customers’ accounts to generate fees and markups for the brokers and their firms. Brokers who intentionally excessively trade have committed serious fraud known as account churning. Such brokers and their firms are liable for the trading losses and excessive fees and commissions caused by churning.
Moreover, brokerage firms, like Vanderbilt Securities, have a duty to monitor and supervise their brokers to ensure they do not churn customer accounts. This duty is heightened when a broker makes decisions on behalf of their customer, including when the customer never authorized the broker to make those decisions.
Firms violate their duties owed to their customers when they negligently fail to prevent their brokers’ excessive or unauthorized trades. Customers have the right to pursue claims to recover their losses caused by their broker’s misconduct from their brokerage firm.
If you have suffered financial losses while investing with Mark Kaplan, contact Marquardt Law Office LLC to speak with a securities attorney and receive a free, no obligation case evaluation.
Marquardt Law Office LLC is a securities law firm located in Chicago, IL representing clients nationwide who have suffered losses due to misconduct such as fraud and negligence.
