ISRAELS & NEUMAN, PLC – Wisconsin Securities Arbitration and Investment Fraud Attorneys
Section 501 of the Wisconsin Uniform Securities Law
Israels & Neuman are securities arbitration and investment fraud attorneys that represent Wisconsin residents who have been wronged by their stockbrokers and brokerage firms. Our investment fraud attorneys have previously represented numerous investors in Wisconsin, including a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-area resident who lost money in variable annuities, another Milwaukee area resident who lost money in penny stocks, and western Wisconsin residents who were victims of the Levi Lindemann PONZI scheme.
Wisconsin residents are protected by the provisions of the Wisconsin Uniform Securities Law. This Act provides for the regulation of the sale of securities to Wisconsin residents and to Wisconsin financial advisors and stockbrokers. Additionally, the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, with offices in Madison, was created to help enforce the provisions of the Wisconsin Uniform Securities Law.
Section 501 of the Wisconsin Uniform Securities Law 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. It is unlawful for a person, in connection with the offer, sale, or purchase of a security, directly or indirectly, to do any of the following:
(1) To employ a device, scheme, or artifice to defraud.
(2) To make an untrue statement of a material fact or to omit to state a material fact necessary in order 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.
See Wis. Stat. § 551.501. The Wisconsin Uniform Securities Law further provides civil remedies in the event that the Act is violated:
2) Liability of seller to purchaser. A person is liable to the purchaser if the person sells a security in violation of s. 551.301 or 551.501 and, as to s. 551.501 (2), the purchaser did not know the untruth or omission and the seller cannot sustain 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 is governed by the following:
(a) 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 under s. 138.04 from the date of the purchase, costs, and reasonable attorney fees determined by the court, upon the tender of the security, or for actual damages as provided in par. (c).
(b) The tender referred to in par. (a) 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 par. (c).
(c) 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 under s. 138.04 from the date of the purchase, costs, and reasonable attorney fees determined by the court.
See Wis. Stat. § 551.509.
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 Denver, Colorado and the Seattle area. We represent investors in FINRA arbitration and securities arbitration proceedings in all 50 states, including representing investors throughout Wisconsin, and in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Appleton, Kenosha, Racine, Waukesha, Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Janesville, and LaCrosse. Our securities attorneys have represented over one thousand investors against many brokerage firms in the past, including VSR Financial, 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.
Click to view: Wisconsion Uniform Securities Law
Click to view: Irsch v. United Securities Alliance
If you are a resident of Wisconsin 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.