New York Securities Fraud Lawyers Blog
The securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have complaints against stockbroker Christopher B Ariola. Mr. Ariola was last employed and registered with Financial Telesis, Inc., an Aliso Viejo broker-dealer, from November 2012 to September 2014, according to his publicly available BrokerCheck, as maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He was previously registered with Bay Mutual Financial LLC from September 2004 to September 2012, according to BrokerCheck records.
FINRA filed Disciplinary Proceeding No. 2012034139101 against Mr. Ariola on August 25, 2016 alleging that he recommended that three elderly retiree investors invest a “substantial portion of their limited retirement assets in certain gold and energy stocks.” The Complaint further alleged that these recommendations were unsuitable because they were not appropriate given each investor’s respective financial circumstances, investment objectives and low risk tolerances, and because the recommendations resulted in each account becoming concentrated in gold and energy stocks. Gold is a commodity, which like energy stocks, can be traded. Both commodities and energy stocks tend tobe risky investments and can lead to large losses.
According to his BrokerCheck report, Mr. Ariola has been the subject of four customer complaints. The latest customer complaint led to a FINRA arbitration proceeding, according to BrokerCheck records. The BrokerCheck records reveal that the customer alleged churning and unsuitability. Churning is generally defined as excessive trading by the broker in the client’s account to generate commissions. FINRA Rules require that recommendations made by the broker to the customer be suitable. This means that the broker must consider the investor’s age, investment experience, age, tax status, other investments, as well as other factors when making a recommendation to buy or sell securities.