Well, apparently the trades were net $1M positive before commissions. That’s a lot better than I’d expect from this type of situation.
So it's an issue of overcharging commissions then cuz their "recommendations" were actually not too bad. LOL
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged two brokers with excessive trading in client accounts, also known as "churning," which the agency claims resulted in an aggregate $3.6 million in losses for clients and generated $4.6 million in commissions for the brokers. The brokers, Emil Botvinnik and Jovannie Aquino, worked for the New York-based brokerage Meyers Associates — which subsequently changed its name to Windsor Street Capital — at the time of the alleged fraud, according to the SEC. Finra, the federal brokerage regulator, expelled Windsor Street Capital from the securities industry in May 2018. The SEC filed separate complaints against Mr. Botvinnik and Mr. Aquinoon Sep. 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The SEC is charging the brokers with violations of antifraud provisions of federal securities laws, alleging they engaged in unauthorized trading and concealed material information from customers about transaction costs associated with their recommendations. Mr. Botvinnik, 38, a resident of Coral Gables, Fla., is no longer a registered broker, according to his BrokerCheck record. The SEC claims he defrauded at least five retail clients between June 2012 and November 2014. His alleged fraud resulted in $2.7 million in client losses and $3.7 million in "ill-gotten gains," according to the SEC. Mr. Botvinnik's attorney, Michael Bachner of Bachner & Associates, said that all client accounts were non-discretionary and that all transactions were therefore authorized by the clients. "In addition, every client was advised by the broker as well as by the compliance department, as we understood from the compliance department, for the commissions and fees being charged," Mr. Bachner said, adding, "We intend to vigorously defend against the allegations." Mr. Aquino, 37, a resident of the Bronx, New York, is currently registered with the broker-dealer Spartan Capital Securities. The SEC claims Mr. Aquino defrauded at least seven clients, resulting in $881,000 in losses for clients and earning him $935,000 in commissions. He did not return a call seeking comment by press time. Both brokers have moved around to several different broker-dealers, some of which have since been expelled from the industry by Finra. Mr. Botvinnik has worked at 11 different brokerage firms during his 13 years in the securities industry, and Mr. Aquino has worked for 12 broker-dealers, according to the SEC complaints.
at a discount broker with 80 to 95% off the commission rates at meyers associates these accounts would have been net positive.
WINNING BUT STILL LOSING Finra panel awards clients $5 million for churning, but from defunct brokerage Dairy farmer clients' $1.5 million portfolio incurred $1.3 million in trading costs, but will they be able to collect? Aug 14, 2018 @ 2:03 pm By Jeff Benjamin The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has slapped a defunct New York brokerage firm with a $5 million fine related to excessive account trading — churning — in what was supposed to be a conservative investment strategy. The challenge now will be collecting on the award, according to Adam Gana, the lawyer representing the retired dairy farmers who saw a $1.5 million portfolio incur $1.3 million in trading costs in a single year. Windsor Street Capital, previously operating as Meyers Associates in midtown Manhattan, was expelled by Finra in May, which dampens the likely resolution of what is one of the 10 largest Finra awards this year. "It's a hollow victory because the award is probably not worth the paper it's printed on," said Andrew Stoltmann, president of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association. "It's a big dollar award, and a head-turner," he said. "But it must be frustrating, because people go through Wall Street's court, they win and then they can't collect. It's the ultimate punch in the gut and Finra is doing little to stop it." Finra did not respond to a request for comment on what it is doing to help victims collect awards, but did email a white paper entitled, "Finra Perspectives on Customer Recovery." In May, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., co-sponsored legislation to establish a fund financed by Finra fine money to cover awards firms and brokers fail to pay. In the meantime, Mr. Gana, partner at law firm Gana Weinstein, plans to file a civil suit against Windsor Street Capital. "We will be very aggressive in attempting to collect," he said. "We will be pursing them to the end of the earth to get that money." According to the original complaint and Finra's award, in late 2015 former Windsor broker Jovannie Aquino cold-called the victims, Patrick and Mary Shea, who had up to that point been managing their own investments on a discount brokerage platform. Of the three separate accounts Mr. Aquino managed for the Sheas, one had a 37.9% portfolio turnover rate between December 2015 and December 2016. The trading costs contributed to driving down the value of the Sheas' portfolio by more than 36% in 2016, a year in which the S&P 500 Index gained 12%. 0
If a customer can generate $4.6m in commissions, I hardly think they are the typical retail clients who need protection. They are more likely to be professionals. As professionals, when you lose, you take your losses gentlemanly.
As financial participants, if we are to learn from losses, we have to blame ourselves and not others even if the others had evil intentions. No matter what, the retail investors who lost money were not forced at gun-point to hand over money.
I recommend you trade back and forth at same price all day. I'll just take my .5% commission for each roundtrip trade. Thanks bruh
did you ever take a course in logic? start with a false premise and your conclusions are worthless as proofs. would any professional trade with a pump and dump high commission brokerage firm?