New York Securities Lawyer Blog
On June 29, 2015, Jeffrey D. Daggett (“Daggett”) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”) to settle allegations made by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”) The FINRA AWC alleged that Daggett, while registered with Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC made numerous unsuitable recommendations of exchange traded products to his customers in violation of FINRA rules. To settle the FINRA allegations, Daggett submitted to censure, a fine of $20,000 and a suspension for four (4) months. A copy of the FINRA AWC is available here.
Specifically, FINRA alleged that from March 2010 through September 2011, Daggett recommended and traded in a volatile and speculative exchange traded note (“ETN”), an inverse triple leveraged exchange traded fund (“ETF”), and a triple leveraged ETF in customer accounts that were inconsistent with the customer’s investment objectives of moderate growth and income. The ETN was tied to long positions in futures contracts on the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, and stated in the prospectus that it was intended for short-term trading and may not be appropriate for intermediate or long-term investment time horizons. Similarly, the ETF prospectuses also stated that they were intended for short-term trading. Nevertheless, the ETN and ETF positions were held in the customer account for periods ranging from one (1) month, to two (2) years. FINRA alleged that Daggett lacked a reasonable basis for believing that the ETN and ETF purchases were suitable for his customer, and as such, violated NASD Conduct Rules 2310 and IM-2310-2, as well as FINRA Rule 2010.
ETFs, ETNs and other exchange traded products are very popular among investment advisers who seek to expose their customers to a particular index or sector of the economy. However, these complex products and the trading strategies utilizing them are difficult for retail investors to fully grasp, and therefore, understand the risk accompanying them. Many investment advisers utilize intraday trading strategies regarding these products, including complex hedging strategies whereby they hedge them against futures contracts regarding the basket of underlying securities or contracts that the ETF tracks. Additionally, many of these products have a “resetting” function that makes them unsuitable for many investors as part of a buy-and-hold strategy. Recently, we covered the Securities and Exchange Commission’s request for public comment on ETFs and ETNs.