• July 9, 2018
• First Standard Financial Company
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty
• Broker Discipline
• Excessive Trading/Churning
• Misrepresentation
• Unauthorized Trading
• Unsuitability
• Unsuitable

The Wolper Law Firm, P.A. is currently investigating claims against William Gennity, a Financial Advisor at First Standard Financial Co. in Staten Island, New York.  William Gennity first entered the securities industry in 2005 and previously worked for Alexander Capital, Legend Securities and National Securities Corporation.

According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), William Gennity has seven (7) customer complaints since his career in the financial services industry began in 20015.  This is an exceedingly high number of customer complaints to be filed against a single Financial Advisor.

Of the seven complaints, three are pending:

• April 2018—Client alleges “excessive trading, high fees and commissions.” Alleged damages are $2.4 million and the matter remains pending.
• August 2017—Client alleges “unauthorized trading and mis-information.” Alleged damages are $435,000 and the matter remains pending.
• July 2017—Client alleges “churning, breach of fiduciary duty.” Alleged damages are $200,000 and the matter remains pending.

In addition, William Gennity has been the subject of several more customer complaints throughout his career in which the customer alleged unauthorized trading, misrepresentation and unsuitability.

https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/4913490#disclosuresSection

In September 2017, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint against William Gennity and other Financial Advisors, alleging:

“Gennity recommended to four customers, and the other defendant recommended to seven customers, a pattern of high cost, in-and-out trading without any reasonable basis to believe that their recommendations were suitable for anyone. These recommendations resulted in losses for the customers and ill-gotten gains for Gennity and the other defendant. Defendants knew or recklessly disregarded that their recommendations, for which they had no reasonable basis, were not suitable for anyone.”  The regulatory matter remains pending.

https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2018/lr24108.htm

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.

If you or someone you know was a customer of William Gennity, and you experienced investment losses, please contact the Wolper Law Firm, P.A. at 800.931.8452 or by email at mwolper@wolperlawfirm.com to discuss your specific situation and the legal options available.  The Wolper Law Firm, P.A. represents investors nationwide in securities litigation and arbitration.

Matt Wolper, the Managing Principal of the Wolper Law Firm, P.A., is a trial lawyers 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.  His industry insight, experience and knowledge gives his clients a competitive advantage.