Former Financial Advisor Joseph Rozof Suspended by FINRA for Alleged Unauthorized Trading

• September 17, 2025
• Harley Capital

Joseph Warner Rozof (CRD#: 5274784) was a previously registered broker.

Broker’s History

He entered the securities industry in 2007 and previously worked with Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd.; National Securities Corporation; Aegis Capital Corp; Rever Securities LLC; and Harley Capital LLC.

Current and Past Allegations of Conduct Leading to Investment Loss

According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), in August of 2025, without admitting or denying the findings, Rozof consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he placed over 250 discretionary trades in the brokerage accounts of two customers of his member firm without written authorization. The findings stated that Rozof discussed his trading strategy with the customers generally but he did not speak with the customers about the specific trades on the dates of the transactions and Rozof’s firm did not accept the accounts as discretionary. The findings also stated that Rozof used a personal cell phone to exchange text messages to communicate with customers of his firm, including the two customers in whose accounts he placed discretionary trades, about securities-related business. Rozof also used his personal cell phone to respond to and otherwise communicate with other firm employees regarding securities-related business. Rozof did not provide the text messages to his firm for review or retention and as a result caused his firm to maintain incomplete books and records.

As a result, Respondent also consented to the imposition of the following sanctions:

• A 45-calendar day suspension from associate with any FINRA member in all capacities; and
• A $10,000.00 fine.

For a copy of the FINRA Disciplinary Action Details, click here.

In addition, Joseph Rozof has been the subject of three other FINRA disclosures:

• June 2024—Discharged by Harley Capital LLC. “RR was in violation of finra rule 3260.”
• September 2019—” TIME FRAME: FEBRUARY 2019 TO AUGUST 2019. CLIENT ALLEGES UNSUITABLE INVESTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS.” The damage amount requested was $53,455.00 and the customer dispute settled for $14,500.00.
• July 2018—“ TIME FRAME: OCT 2007-FEBRUARY 2018. CLAIMANT ALLEGES EXCESSIVE TRADING, CHURNING, UNSUITABLE TRANSACTIONS, AND MISREPRESENTATION.” The damage amount requested was $228,128.47 and the customer dispute was dismissed.

For a copy of Joseph Rozof’s FINRA BrokerCheck, click here.

We Help Investors Recover Investment Losses

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.

Reasonable basis suitability requires that a recommended investment or investment strategy be suitable or appropriate for at least some investors. Reasonable basis suitability requires an advisor to conduct adequate due diligence so that he or she can determine the risks and rewards of the investment or investment strategy.

Customer-specific suitability requires that a member or associated person have a reasonable basis to believe that the recommendation is suitable for a particular customer based on that customer’s investment profile. Among the criteria that a financial advisor must evaluate to satisfy his or her customer-specific suitability obligations include the investor’s age, tax status, time horizon, liquidity needs, and risk tolerance; a client’s other investments, financial situation and needs, investment objectives, and any other information disclosed by the customer should also be considered.

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.

Excessive trading often occurs when a Financial Advisor puts his or her interests ahead of the clients and makes transactions solely for the purpose of generating commissions. Financial Advisors have a regulatory duty to recommend suitable investment strategies. One of the components of the suitability analysis is quantitative suitability.

Quantitative suitability requires a brokerage firm or financial advisor with actual or de facto control over a customer’s account to have a reasonable basis for believing that a series of recommended transactions – even if suitable when viewed in isolation – is not excessive and unsuitable for the customer when taken together in light of the customer’s investment profile. No single test defines excessive activity, but factors such as the turnover rate, the cost-equity ratio, and the use of in-and-out trading in a customer’s account may provide a basis for a finding that a member or associated person has violated the quantitative suitability obligation. 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 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.