FINRA Fines And Suspends UBS Financial Advisor, Richard D. Niemann, For Exercising Discretion In Customer Accounts Without Authorization

Richard D. Niemann is currently a Financial Advisor at UBS Financial Services Inc. in its Sugar Land, Texas branch office.  Richard Niemann has been in the securities industry since 1971, and previously worked at Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Salomon Smith Barney.

According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), on March 11, 2019, Richard Niemann entered into a letter of acceptance, waiver and consent (“AWC”) with FINRA, agreeing to a fine of $5,000 and suspension.  The AWC states that “from June 2010 through November 2017, Niemann exercised discretion without written authorization in 13 accounts belonging to 11 customers, in violation of NASD Rule 2510(b) and FINRA Rule 2010.   

For a copy of the FINRA sanction, click http://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/fda_documents/2018057927801%20Richard%20D.%20Niemann%20CRD%20348144%20AWC%20va.pdf

Separately, Richard Niemann has four customer disputes disclosed on his BrokerCheck, including two complaints concerning auction rate securities.  One settled for $75,000, while the other settled for $575,000. 

For a copy of the Richard Niemann CRD, click https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/348144#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.  

In addition, unauthorized trading is a serious allegation based upon a belief that the customer did not approve the purchase or sale of a security prior to execution of the trade.  Financial Advisors who engage in unauthorized trading often do so to increase commissions earned from their clients’ accounts. 

The Wolper Law Firm represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration on a contingency fee basis.  Matt Wolper, the Managing Principal of the Wolper Law Firm, 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.