Berthel Fisher Sued Again by FINRA for Failing to Supervise Sales
From the Desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law LLC:
FINRA Enforcement has recently filed a claim against Berthel Fisher & Co., a mid-sized independent broker-dealer, for failing to supervise the sale of unit investment trusts (UITs). According to FINRA, a former broker at Berthel Fisher allegedly structured sales from 2013 to 2014 of UITs to clients in order to avoid reaching levels at which breakpoint discounts would kick in, harming clients, but boosting the broker's commissions.
More specifically, the broker recommended to 12 clients that they liquidate short term UIT positions, and then use the proceeds to purchase other UITs carrying sales charges totaling 3.95% before available discounts. The broker generated more than $421,000 worth of commissions for himself and the firm.
This FINRA complaint comes three years after Berthel Fisher was fined $775,000 for a variety of failures to supervise sales of nontraded REITS and leveraged ETFs from 2008-2012.
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