New York Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog
The securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints against stockbroker Barry D. Abrams. Mr. Abrams is currently employed and registered with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., and works at the broker-dealer’s Marlton, New Jersey office, according to his publicly available BrokerCheck records maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Per his BrokerCheck report, Mr. Abrams was previously employed and registered by Securities Service Network, Inc. from 2001 to 2013 and was discharged from that firm for “exercise[ing] discretion in a client account without written authorization from the client and without firm approval.” Prior to his employment and dismissal from Securities Service Network, Inc., Mr. Abrams was employed and registered with Morgan Stanley from 1995 to 2001, according to BrokerCheck records.
In 2015, Mr. Abrams was fined and suspended from association with any FINRA member broker-dealer for 15 business days by FINRA, after submitting a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent No. 2013039371801 (AWC). According to the AWC, Mr. Abrams violated NASD Conduct Rule 2510(b) (Discretionary Accounts) and FINRA Rule 2010 (Standards of Commercial Honor and Principles of Trade) by placing discretionary transactions in a customer’s account without first obtaining prior written authorization from the customer and acceptance by the firm for such discretionary trading.
Generally speaking, when a broker is said to have made discretionary transactions in a customer’s account, this means that the broker entered a trade of a security without obtaining the client’s authorization prior to making the transaction. NASD Conduct Rule 2510 requires that before a broker can exercise discretion in a customer’s account, the customer must give written authorization, and that authorization must be accepted in writing by the broker-dealer firm. Brokers who place discretionary trades without obtaining this authorization from the customer and having it accepted by the firm may violate Rule 2510, and may be found liable of engaging in unauthorized trading.
Mr. Abrams was also the subject of a customer dispute while he was employed by Securities Service Network, Inc., according to the BrokerCheck records. The BrokerCheck report details that the customer alleged churning, misrepresentation, gross mismanagement of account and unauthorized use of discretion, and that the dispute was settled in or around 2014.