Former UBS Capital Financial Advisor, Ricardo Turlan, Has Three Customer Complaints Disclosed On His CRD Alleging Sales Practice Violations

Ricardo Turlan (CRD # 4431836) was a Financial Advisor at UBS Financial Services Inc. in San Antonio, TX.  Ricardo Turlan has been in the securities industry since 2001 and previously worked at BBVA Securities, Inc. and CitiCorp Investment Services.  He is not currently registered as a broker.

According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Ricardo Turlan has three customer complaints disclosed on his CRD, alleging the following sales practice violations:

• March 2019 – “January 2, 2018 to March 8, 2019 The client alleges her Financial Advisor exercised discretion on the account even though she had not formally authorize[d] it.  The client further alleges she did not know which securities would be traded until after the fact.  The client finally alleges her Financial Advisor promised her not to charge commissions in 2018 but he did.”  The matter settled for $110,000. 
• January 2016 – “Customer purchased United Mex States Bond, denominated in Mexican pesos, on 10/1/2014.  Customer alleges representative converted US dollars to Mexican pesos to purchase bond without her consent.”
• August 2015 – “Customer purchased structured note in June, 2011.  Customer alleges representative did not provide information in a timely fashion in regards to the structured note and the underlying securities to enable the customer to exit this note and purchase a difference note.”

In July 2019, Richardo Turlan was “discharged” from UBS “after a firm investigation determined (1) that he exercised discretion in two client accounts without written authorization; and (2) trading in other accounts reached levels that could be considered qualitatively unsuitable (ROAs between 3.0 and 9.0 for a twelve month period).”

For a copy of Ricardo Turlan’s CRD, click https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/4431836#disclosuresSection.

Financial advisors have a legal and regulatory obligation to recommend only suitable investments that are appropriate for their clients’ needs and objectives. Their employing brokerage firm has a legal and regulatory obligation to supervise the Financial Advisors’ sales practices and dealings with clients.  To the extent any of these duties are breached, the customer may be entitled to a recovery of his or her investment losses.  

The Wolper Law Firm, P.A. represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration on a contingency fee basis.  Matt Wolper, the Managing Principal of the Wolper Law Firm, P.A., is a trial lawyer who has handled hundreds of securities cases during his career involving a wide range of products, strategies and securities.  Prior to representing investors, he was a partner with a national law firm, where he represented some of the largest banks and brokerage firms in the world in securities matters.  We can be reached at 800.931.8452 or by email at mwolper@wolperlawfirm.com.

UBS Financial Services Broker Ricardo Turlan Suspended by FINRA After Allegations He Exercised Discretion Without Authorization

Ricardo Turlan (CRD#: 4431836) was previously dually registered as a Broker and Investment Advisor at USB Financial Services, Inc. in San Antonio, TX. He entered the securities industry in 2001 and previously worked for BBVA Securities, Inc.; BBVA Compass Investment Solutions, Inc.; BBVA Investments, Inc.; and Citicorp Investment Services. According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), in June 2021, FINRA sanctioned Ricardo Turlan, levying a civil and administrative penalty of $7,500 and suspending him from all capacities for a 2-month period beginning June 7, 2021 and ending August 6, 2021. The FINRA sanction states, “Without admitting or denying the findings, Turlan consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he effected trades in customer accounts using discretion without the customers’ prior written authorization and without his member firm accepting these accounts as discretionary in writing. The findings stated that Turlan also caused the firm to maintain inaccurate books and records by mismarking trades as unsolicited when they should have been marked as solicited.” For a copy of the FINRA sanction, click here. In addition, Ricardo Turlan has been the subject of three customer complaints, including the following: ● February 2021–”Respondent Turlan failed to respond to FINRA request for information.” FINRA suspended Ricardo Turlan from all capacities for a 3-month period beginning on March 16, 2020 and ending on June 1, 2020. ● July 2019–”FA was discharged after a Firm investigation determined (1) that he exercised discretion in two client accounts without written authorization; and (2) trading in other accounts reached levels that could be considered qualitatively unsuitable (ROAs between 3.0 and 9.0 for a twelve month period).” Ricardo Turlan was discharged from UBS Financial Services, Inc. after allegations were filed. ● March 2019–”January 2, 2018 to March 8, 2019 The client alleges her Financial Advisor exercised discretion on the account even though she had not formally authorize it. The client further alleges she did not know which securities would be traded until after the fact. The client finally alleges her Financial Advisor promised her not to charge commissions in 2018 but he did.” The customer dispute was settled for $110,000. ● January 2016–”Customer purchased United Mex States Bond, denominated in Mexican pesos, on 10/1/2014. Customer alleges representative converted US dollars to Mexican pesos to purchase bond without her consent.” The customer dispute was denied. ● August 2015–”Customer purchased structured note in June, 2011. Customer alleges representative did not provide information in a timely fashion in regards to the structured note and the underlying securities to enable the customer to exit this note and purchase a different note.” The customer dispute was denied. For a copy of Ricardo Turlan’s FINRA BrokerCheck, click here. FINRA regulations require that a customer’s written authorization is required before a broker-dealer can carry out transactions in the customer’s account. In addition, the broker-dealer’s member firm needs to approve the broker-dealer’s authorization. These measures are intended to protect the customer. Discretionary trading allows the broker-dealer to unilaterally decide to buy or sell securities at any price and not have to check with the client first. Exercising discretion without authorization can be costly to investors, and broker-dealers and their member firms, too. The Wolper Law Firm, P.A. represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration on a contingency fee basis. Matt Wolper, the Managing Principal of the Wolper Law Firm, P.A., is a trial lawyer who has handled hundreds of securities cases during his career involving a wide range of products, strategies and securities. Prior to representing investors, he was a partner with a national law firm, where he represented some of the largest banks and brokerage firms in the world in securities matters. We can be reached at 800.931.8452 or by email at mwolper@wolperlawfirm.com.