Thomas J. Buck once headed up a large client group at Merrill Lynch's Carmel office managing investment accounts for more than 800 clients in a portfolio valued at more than $1.3 billion. A
consent order issued by the federal Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") last week permanently bars him from making trades and investment decisions for clients or even working in a clerical position for a firm offering those services. FINRA claims Buck made unauthorized trades with his clients' funds and held customer assets in commission-based accounts instead of lower-cost fee-based accounts without their consent. Buck had joined RBC Capital Markets in March after Merrill Lynch severed its ties to him.
It appears that Mr. Thomas Buck had one customer complaint prior to 2015. According to FINRA, in 2006, a client alleged “excessive fees and unauthorized purchase of an NYSE listed limited partnership.” The alleged damage was $75,131 and was settled. The broker statement read, “This matter was settled to avoid the cost of time and an arbitration proceeding.
ReplyDeleteThen earlier this year, Buck had eleven customer disputes. Interesting.
There are few brokers that have 800 customers and handle accounts with a total value of over a billion dollars. Most brokerage firms would overlook major sins to keep a team like this intact. It is not unheard of for brokers this important to get signing bonuses of over a million dollars to switch firms. We do not yet have the full story.
I'm a lot more concerned with the counterfeiting committed by the Federal Reserve that allowed its balance sheet to grow by nearly $4 trillion since 2008. That is confiscation and redistribution to the 1% by inflation.
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