The securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints against stockbroker Steven M. Wisniewski. Mr. Wisniewski is currently employed and registered with Newbridge Securities Corporation and works at the broker-dealer’s Boca Raton, Florida office, according to his publicly available BrokerCheck records maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Per his BrokerCheck report, Mr. Wisniewski was previously employed and registered by Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. from November 2012 to May 2015, Ridgeway & Conger, Inc. from September 2011 to November 2012, and J.P. Turner & Company, LLC from July 2003 to September 2011.
According to his BrokerCheck report, Mr. Wisniewski was the subject of a recent customer complaint received in or around April 2015 alleging churning, unauthorized trading, misrepresentation, negligence, forgery and fraud. The case is currently pending, with alleged damages of $200,000, according to BrokerCheck records.
In 2016, Mr. Wisniewski was fined and suspended from association with any FINRA member broker-dealer for three months by FINRA, after submitting a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent No. 2015044110101 (AWC). According to the AWC, Mr. Wisniewski violated FINRA Rule 2010 (Standards of Commercial Honor and Principles of Trade) because, “in September 2013, Wisniewski signed a customer’s name on three account documents without her authorization. In addition, between February and Just 2013, Wisniewski forged the customer’s initials on three variable annuity switch forms.”
Generally speaking, a broker engages in unauthorized trading when he or she trades an investor’s account without asking the investor’s permission. Unauthorized trading is generally violative of FINRA Rules, except when the customer has given the broker discretion to trade and the firm has accepted the discretionary directive, or under certain circumstances when there is trading on margin.