SEC Fines Centaurus Financial Over Sales of Unsuitable Variable Interest Rate Structured Products (VRSP)
LEXINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA
Were you sold variable interest rate structured products (VRSP) by Centaurus Financial? The Securities and Exchange Commission recently brought a claim against Centaurus Financial regarding sales of variable interest rate structured products.
The SEC alleged that between June 2016 and July 2019, Atul Makharia and seven other representatives from Centaurus Financial’s Lexington, South Carolina office recommended VRSPs to 94 firm customers. The SEC alleged that these investments were unsuitable, as VRSPs can be complex and risky products. Many of the investors (that were recommended the VRSPs by Makharia and other advisors) were retired with low or moderate risk tolerances.
Centaurus Financial, which is based in Anaheim, California, was alleged to have failed to adequately supervise these transactions. To settle these allegations, Centaurus Financial agreed to pay a $750,000 penalty. Moreover, Atul Makharia was suspended from the securities industry for six months, and his supervisor Ricky Mantei agreed to a $206,000 civil penalty.
Israels & Neuman represents investors in FINRA arbitration throughout the U.S., including investors in South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina. We have represented investors against numerous broker dealers in the past, including Centaurus Financial.
View Centaurus Financial SEC Order
View Makharia, a BrokerCheck 2.6.23