BROKER MISCONDUCT: NEGLIGENCE
Negligence is a broad legal concept. Certainly you've heard the term used in the context of medical malpractice or legal malpractice. Negligence may also make its way into casual conversation when describing, for example, excessively bad parenting. In the context of the financial industry, brokerage firms, and financial advisors, establishing negligence turns on two key issues. In order to be considered negligent, a brokerage or individual broker must:
act in a manner that fails to comply with industry standards as set for by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
act in manner that fails to reflect the prudent behavior of a reasonable individual or professional
The former is the most common instance of negligence as it pertains to investing. But underlying "industry standards" are certain common sense rules and regulations designed to protect investors from self-interested, rapacious, and/or deceptive financial advisors who have a fiduciary and legal obligation to protect their clients interests.
That means that, in a way, point 2 is subsumed in point 1, since industry standards generally describe and enforce "prudent behavior of a reasonable individual or professional." In other words, it's hard to act without prudence or reason and not afoul of some FINRA rule or regulation.
How Negligence Helps in Securities Litigation
But negligence is also a useful concept in situations where deceptive practices by brokers do not easily fall into common illegal or fraudulent schemes such as churning, unsuitability, ponzi schemes, and unauthorized trading. Negligence covers all of these well-established nefarious schemes and many more besides, while remaining open for new innovations in the old practice of bamboozling people out of money.
PA & NJ Investment Fraud Attorneys
Our securities attorneys have over a decade of experience helping retail investors recover losses from stock brokers and national brokerage firms. We understand complex financial products and appreciate how stressful losing your wealth to an unscrupulous or negligent advisor can be.
If you or anyone you know has been the victim of investment fraud or broker misconduct, please contact us immediately for a free consultation at 215-462-3330 or by using our online contact form.
