Ausdal Financial Partners, Inc. (“Ausdal Financial Partners”) (CRD#7995) has faced complaints and regulatory proceedings involving FINRA, state regulatory organizations, and investors. At the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., we have investigated Ausdal Financial Partners, its regulatory history, and its customer complaints. We have also represented investors in claims involving fraud, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and financial advisor misconduct.
If you suffered investment losses due to misconduct involving Ausdal Financial Partners or one of its representatives, an experienced Iowa investment fraud lawyer can evaluate your account and explain your potential recovery options. You should not wait until it is too late to file a claim. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. offers free consultations.
Call us at 800-732-2889 to discuss your case and determine how we may be able to help you pursue the compensation you need and deserve.
Can I Sue Ausdal Financial Partners?
If you’ve lost money caused by Ausdal Financial Partners and/or its employees’ misconduct then the answer is, YES, you can sue Ausdal Financial Partners, but the odds are you signed away your right to sue in court and agreed to resolve your dispute in a FINRA arbitration proceeding. Attorney Robert Wayne Pearce has over 45 years of personal experience in FINRA arbitration proceedings and knows very well how you can not only sue Ausdal Financial Partners in FINRA arbitration proceedings but WIN that arbitration. The easiest way to know if you have a viable case against Ausdal Financial Partners is to call Attorney Pearce at our office at 800-732-2889.
What is Ausdal Financial Partners?
Ausdal Financial Partners (CRD#7995) is a registered broker-dealer. It operates as a full-service independent broker-dealer, providing a range of financial products and services to individual investors and financial advisors.
As a registered broker-dealer, Ausdal Financial Partners is subject to regulations and oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). It is required to comply with industry standards and regulations to ensure the protection of its clients’ interests.
A failure to comply with industry standards by either its brokers or the firm itself can result in disciplinary actions, fines, or other penalties imposed by regulatory authorities.
Ausdal Financial Partners Has Had Regulatory Problems
Ausdal Financial Partners’ rapid growth has not been without consequences. There has been at least 1 state and/or self-regulatory body disclosure events; that is, final and formal proceedings initiated by a regulatory authority (e.g., a state or federal securities agency like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or self-regulatory body like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) for a violation(s) of investment-related rules or regulations. In addition, there have been many customer complaints filed against Ausdal Financial Partners for misconduct by its securities sales and investment advisory representatives that are not reported by the firm on its Central Depository Record.
A Brief Overview of Some of the Regulatory Problems Ausdal Financial Partners Has Faced Over the Years
Ausdal Financial Partners has been censured, warned, and fined for its own misconduct and failure to supervise its army of financial advisors. A notable FINRA Sanctions for its Supervisory Failures are below:
Ausdal Financial Services Censured and Fined for Failure to Retain Email Correspondence Related to its Business as a Broker-Dealer for Over Two Years
Brief Overview: The firm began using a new third-party email provider to retain its emails, and when the provider implemented the firm’s email retention system, it established email addresses for the firm’s personnel on its server. After the initial set-up, the firm was responsible for establishing new email addresses on the server. Due to user error, for over two years, the firm failed to establish new email addresses on the server for several newly-registered representatives and associated personnel and therefore failed to retain the emails of these representatives and associated personnel. The firm allowed its registered representatives to use their personal email addresses if they forwarded securities-related emails to any of the email review boxes established by the firm. However, for a period, the emails sent to one of these email review boxes were not retained. These emails were deleted on a weekly basis because the review box would become full and would not accept any additional emails.
Why Does Ausdal Financial Partners Have So Many Regulatory Problems And Customer Complaints?
Independent broker-dealers are notorious for their lax supervisory practices and procedures. The business model of these franchise type operations is to open many offices nationwide for steady growth of fixed monthly revenues without the costs attendant to a full-service branch office with on-site manager, compliance officer and operation personnel. The registered representatives of these independent broker-dealers generally operate as separately incorporated businesses. They are not employees of the broker-dealer and therefore not controlled in the same manner as full-service brokerage firm representatives. The registered representatives control their structure and costs to maximize profits and often leave the protection of investors’ rights and interests as their lowest priority.
The typical supervisory organization of independent broker-dealer operations is to have other independent contractors operate Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJs) to monitor the registered representatives from geographically remote offices and then report to the main franchisor’s compliance office at national headquarters. The supervisors at the OSJs are not employees of the franchisor and often run their own brokerage, insurance and other businesses. They are not devoted full-time supervisors of the smaller branch offices. Consequently, OSJ managers cannot and do not supervise the day-to-day operations of the registered representatives of these Independent broker-dealers.
Generally, there is no immediate review of new accounts opened, securities transactions, business records, cash or securities receipts and deliveries, correspondence and business activities unrelated to the securities brokerage operation at these independent brokerage firms. The lax supervision leaves investors who have transferred their accounts to the smaller independent broker-dealer vulnerable to sales of securities that have not been reviewed or authorized by anyone other than the sales representative earning a commission. There may be no one onsite to detect forgeries of clients’ signatures on documents, the placement of inaccurate information about a client’s investment objectives and financial condition to document the suitability of a particular investment recommendation. Oftentimes there is no daily review of sales literature and client correspondence to protect against misrepresentations and misleading statements being made to investors. In fact, it is not unusual for there to be only one compliance audit visit per year at many of these offices.
These Independent brokerage business operations are worrisome to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), which has documented more instances of sales abuse and consequently investor losses at these firms than the traditional brokerage firms with branch offices with on-site managers and compliance personnel.
Did Ausdal Financial Partners Advisor Misconduct Cause You Investment Losses?
When financial advisor misconduct causes a substantial decline in the value of your investment accounts, you may have the right to seek compensation from the responsible parties. Ausdal Financial Partners may be responsible for the acts and omissions of its financial advisors and has an independent duty to supervise its stockbrokers and investment advisors.
A knowledgeable failure to supervise lawyer can investigate whether the brokerage firm maintained and enforced adequate supervisory procedures, reviewed investment recommendations, responded to warning signs, and properly monitored its representatives’ communications and account activity.
These cases can be complex, making experienced legal representation important. Many investors contact a brokerage firm directly about their complaints without an attorney and later have those complaints denied.
Related Read: Can You Sue Your Brokerage Firm?
Consult With An Attorney Who Recovers Investment Losses Caused By Ausdal Financial Partners Today!
Ausdal Financial Partners is headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, but investors do not need to live in Iowa to pursue compensation for losses allegedly caused by the firm or its financial advisors.
The investment-loss attorneys at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. represent investors throughout the United States, including those in Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Vermont, and other states nationwide.
Our firm has helped investors pursue recovery for losses caused by broker negligence, unsuitable investment recommendations, misrepresentations, supervisory failures, and other forms of misconduct. Attorney Pearce is committed to holding responsible parties accountable for the losses investors have suffered.
Give us a call at 800-732-2889. Let’s discuss your case and see what we can do to help you get the compensation you need and deserve.
