Brokerage Company Whistleblower Lawyer

If you’ve discovered a fraud scheme being perpetrated by a brokerage company, get the help you need to report it to the SEC by working with a whistleblower lawyer experienced in cases dealing with brokerages.

Brokerage companies essentially act as a go-between in securities sales and trades. They connect buyers with sellers, sometimes purchasing stocks themselves and selling them later. Because brokerages are effectively “middlemen” in these transactions, they are in a unique position where the buyers and sellers must both trust them.

Unfortunately, some brokers put their own interests before that of their customers, effectively violating this trust and their fiduciary duty. Many of these cases involve some form of securities fraud, which makes them of interest to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

By working with a brokerage company whistleblower lawyer from Meissner Associates, you can tip off the SEC to this type of broker misconduct—and potentially earn a substantial whistleblower reward in the process.

Churning

The fraudulent practice known as “churning” is probably one of the most common violations committed by dishonest brokerages. Brokerage companies make commissions based on the trades they make. The more trades a brokerage makes on behalf of its clients, the more money in commissions it makes.

If a brokerage company makes an excessive number of trades for the sole purpose of collecting additional fees in commissions, then it’s guilty of churning. When a whistleblower reports churning to the SEC, sanctions against the brokerage company are highly likely, a portion of which could go to the whistleblower as a reward.

High-Pressure Boiler Rooms

So-called “boiler room” tactics are commonly seen with brokerage companies who deal in penny stocks. Dishonest brokers will employ high-pressure sales tactics to sell these stocks for unreasonable prices, usually omitting any negative information about them and making unreasonable promises and predictions about how much the stock’s price is likely to increase in the future.

These dishonest brokers are often excellent salespeople and can easily defraud investors of substantial amounts of money. These investors are extremely unlikely to ever see a return on these bad investments.

Stock-Price Manipulation

Some brokerage companies engage in stock-price manipulation schemes. These brokerages will falsely promote a security in an effort to artificially boost its price. This might be an effort to make additional money off transaction commissions.

In other cases, the brokerage might have purchased a bad stock at a low price with the intention of inflating its price, selling the shares, and making a substantial return on their investment before the market corrects.

Anyone who bought stocks with manipulated prices is all but certain to lose big when the price returns to normal.

Connect with a Brokerage Whistleblower Attorney

The examples described above are just a few of the ways in which dishonest brokerages can defraud their clients and investors. If you’ve encountered any suspicious conduct when dealing with a brokerage, Meissner Associates can help you determine if securities fraud is taking place that needs to be reported to the SEC.

We can help you maximize the value of your whistleblower award while enjoying the full measure of the protections offered by the Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley acts. Get a free, confidential tip evaluation performed by an experienced brokerage company whistleblower lawyer today. Just complete the form below or call 1-866-764-3100.