• February 21, 2020
• Reid & Rudiger

Clifford Reid (CRD # 1905920) is a Financial Advisor at Reid & Rudiger in New York, NY. Clifford Reid has been in the securities industry since since 1989 and has been with Reid and Rudiger since 1999.

According to publicly available records released by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Clifford Reid has been the subject of seven customer complaints during his career, alleging sales practice misconduct. Four of those complaints remain pending. The complaints against Clifford Reid allege the following:

• October 2019—”Customer alleged sales practice violations including false and misleading statements, excessive trading, breach of fiduciary duty and failure to supervise.” Alleged damages are $220,542 and the matter remains pending.
• September 2019—”Customer alleged sales practice violations including unsuitability, excessive trading, negligent supervision, and breach of fiduciary duty.” Alleged damages are $86,000 and the matter remains pending.
• September 2019—”Customer alleged sales practice violations including unsuitability, excessive trading, failure to supervise and breach of fiduciary duty.” Alleged damages are $218,388 and the matter remains pending.
• August 2019—”Customer alleged breach of fiduciary duty, violation of FINRA rules, breach of contract, negligence and negligent supervision.” Alleged damages are $499,999 and the matter remains pending.
• January 2019—”Customer alleges representative did not place stop loss order.” Alleged damages are $120,000 and the matter remains pending.

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.

For a copy of Clifford Reid’s CRD, click https://brokercheck.finra.org/individual/summary/1905920#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.