Vanderbilt Securities Ordered to Pay $100,000 for Failing to Supervise Advisor Mark Kaplan

Vanderbilt Securities, a securities brokerage firm based out of Woodbury, New York, was recently ordered to pay $100,000 for supervisory failures related to trading by advisor Mark Kaplan.  FINRA (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) found that between March 2011 and March 2015, Vanderbilt Securities and its chief compliance officer, Barry Champney, failed to establish and maintain a supervisory system to detect excessive trading or churning by its advisors.  FINRA specifically named advisor Mark Kaplan as being alleged to have engaged in excessive trading.

FINRA alleged that one customer’s accounts had turnovers ranging from 2.34 to 118, and the cost equity ratios ranged from 31.7% to 301.6%.  To put this in perspective, if an account had a cost equity ratio of 100%, that means the account would have to double itself just to break even from the costs of trading.

Mark Kaplan was a financial advisor and representative of Vanderbilt Securities from March 2011 to February 2018.  Kaplan worked at Vanderbilt’s office in Woodbury, New York.  Kaplan has been the subject of eight customer complaints, and he has also been barred from the securities industry by FINRA.

Brokerage firms like Vanderbilt Securities have a responsibility to adequately supervise all representatives who are registered through their firm.  Brokerage firms also must take steps to ensure that their financial advisors follow all securities rules and regulations, as well as internal firm policies.  When brokerage firms fail to adequately supervise their registered representatives, they may be liable for investment losses sustained by customers.

Israels & Neuman PLC is a securities and investment fraud law firm with offices in Denver, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; and Ann Arbor, Michigan.  We represent investors in FINRA arbitration proceedings in all 50 states. Our attorneys have represented over one thousand investors against many brokerage firms in the past.

Click to view:  Vanderbilt Securities FINRA AWC

Click to view:  Kaplan, Mark BrokerCheck 7.27.18

If you lost money with Vanderbilt Securities, please CONTACT US at 720-599-3505 for a free evaluation of your case.

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