On March 27, 2018, FINRA announced it suspended securities broker Mark Ketner from associating with firms registered with FINRA for two months and fined him $5,000. FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.) registers and regulates securities brokers and brokerage firms.
In a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC), FINRA said it suspended Mark Ketner for engaging in short-term trading of unit investment trusts in 14 investors’ accounts. FINRA alleged this trading violated its rules because such trading was unsuitable to the customers.
According to FINRA records, seven of Mark Ketner’s customers previously filed FINRA arbitration claims against him. One is still pending and the other six settled, resulting in the customers recovering part of the losses they claimed Ketner had caused.
Mark Ketner became a licensed General Securities Representative in 1986 and is assigned CRD # 1138522. Since October 2002, he has been registered with Maxim Group LLC.
Recovery Options for Losses Due to Unsuitable Short-Term Trading of Unit Investment Trusts
Rules and regulations require brokers, like Mark Ketner, to recommend only suitable investment products and strategies to their customers. Suitability is based on factors such as a customer’s age, investment objective, risk tolerance, investment experience, financial status and needs, and an investment’s features and risks.
A unit investment trust (“UIT”) is a type of mutual fund that will terminate on a set date. A UIT entitles an investor to payments until it matures. The payments are a share of income derived from a fixed portfolio of stocks or bonds held in a trust. A fixed portfolio means the stocks and bonds held will not be bought or sold. A UIT is designed for investors to buy and hold them. They usually require a sales commission to purchase them, making them unsuited for short-term trading. Thus, it is generally unsuitable for a broker to recommend, or execute, short-term trading of a UIT in a customer’s account.
Security laws and rules require brokerage firms, like Maxim Group, to supervise their brokers to ensure they recommend only suitable investment strategies to their customers. This requires a firm to review a UIT trade in a customer’s account that occurs before the UIT matures to ensure a broker did not recommend an unsuitable short-term UIT trade.
Investors have the right to pursue claims to recover their losses caused by firms inadequately supervising their brokers. Additionally, firms may be held jointly responsible for their brokers’ misconduct under agency law theories.
If you experienced losses while investing with Mark Ketner, contact Marquardt Law Office LLC to speak with a securities attorney and receive a free evaluation.
Marquardt Law Office LLC is a securities law firm located in Chicago, IL that represents clients nationwide who have suffered losses due to misconduct such as fraud and negligence.
