ISRAELS & NEUMAN, PLC- Hawaii Securities Attorneys

Section 501 of the Hawaii Uniform Securities Act.

Israels & Neuman are securities arbitration and investment fraud attorneys that represent Hawaii residents who have been wronged by their stockbrokers and brokerage firms.

Hawaiian residents are protected by the provisions of the Hawaii Uniform Securities Act.  This Act provides for the regulation of the sale of securities to Hawaii residents and to Hawaii financial advisors and stockbrokers.  Additionally, the Hawaii Securities Division, with offices in Honolulu, was created to help enforce the provisions of the Hawaii Uniform Securities Act.

Hawaii Revised Statute Section 485A-501 of the Hawaii Uniform Securities Act provides for liability if a financial advisor or investment advisor misrepresents the risks of an investment to you.  In particular, this statute provides that:

General fraud.  (a)  It shall be unlawful for a person, in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of a security, directly or indirectly:

(1)  To employ a device, scheme, or artifice to defraud;

(2)  To make an untrue statement of a material fact or to fail to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;

(3)  To engage in an act, practice, or course of business that operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon another person;

(4)  To issue, circulate, or publish any prospectus, circular, advertisement, printed matter, document, pamphlet, leaflet, or other literature (in this chapter collectively referred to as “advertising matter”), which contains an untrue statement of a material fact or fails to state a material fact necessary to make the statements therein made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading;

(5)  To issue, circulate, or publish any advertising matter or make any written representation, unless the name of the person issuing, circulating, publishing, or making the same and the fact that the person is issuing, circulating, or making the same shall be clearly indicated thereon;

(6)  To make any statement or representation or issue, circulate, or publish any advertising matter containing any statement, to the effect that the security has been in any way approved or endorsed by the commissioner; or

(7)  To issue, circulate, or publish any advertising matter unless a copy thereof has been previously filed with the office of the commissioner, or unless the commissioner has by rule adopted or order issued under this chapter exempted the filing of any advertising material.

See Hawaii Rev. Stat. § 485A-501.  The Hawaii Uniform Securities Act further provides civil remedies in the event that the Act is violated:

(b)  A person is liable to the purchaser if the person sells a security in violation of section 485A-301 or, by means of an untrue statement of a material fact or an omission of a material fact necessary to make the statement made, in light of the circumstances under which it is made, not misleading, the purchaser not knowing the untruth or omission and the seller not sustaining the burden of proof that the seller did not know and, in the exercise of reasonable care, could not have known of the untruth or omission.  An action under this subsection shall be governed by the following:

(1)  The purchaser may maintain an action to recover the consideration paid for the security, less the amount of any income received on the security, and interest at the legal rate of interest, from the date of the purchase, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees determined by the court, upon the tender of the security, or for actual damages as provided in paragraph (3);

(2)  The tender referred to in paragraph (1) may be made any time before entry of judgment.  Tender requires only notice in a record of ownership of the security and willingness to exchange the security for the amount specified.  A purchaser that no longer owns the security may recover actual damages as provided in paragraph (3); and

(3)  Actual damages in an action arising under this subsection are the amount that would be recoverable upon a tender less the value of the security when the purchaser disposed of it, and interest at the legal rate of interest, from the date of the purchase, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees determined by the court.

See Hawaii Rev. Stat. § 485A-509.

If your financial advisor or stockbroker makes misrepresentations to you when selling securities, he or she may be liable for your losses.  In addition, the brokerage firm that your advisor works for may also be liable.

Israels & Neuman PLC is a securities arbitration and investment fraud law firm with offices in the Seattle area and Denver, Colorado.  We represent investors in FINRA arbitration and securities arbitration proceedings in all 50 states, including representing investors throughout Hawaii, and on the islands of Kauai, Maui, Hawaii, Lanai, Molokai, and in Honolulu, Pearl City, Hilo, and Kailua. Our securities attorneys have represented over one thousand investors against many brokerage firms in the past, including LPL Financial, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Smith Barney, Stifel Nicolaus & Company, UBS Financial Services, Oppenheimer, Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo Advisors, Ameriprise Financial Services, Raymond James, ProEquities, Securities America, National Securities Corp., and many others.

If you are a resident of Hawaii and have lost money with your financial advisor or investment advisor, please CONTACT ISRAELS & NEUMAN at 206-795-5798 for a free evaluation of your case.