Calton & Associates, Inc. (“Calton & Associates”) (CRD# 20999) 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 Calton & Associates, its regulatory history, and its customer complaints. We have also represented investors in claims involving fraud, negligence, unsuitable investment recommendations, supervisory failures, and breach of fiduciary duty against brokerage firms and their financial advisors.
If you believe you were harmed by investment fraud or misconduct at Calton & Associates, you may have legal options for recovering your losses. An experienced investment fraud lawyer can examine your account statements, transaction records, communications, and investment recommendations to determine whether you may have a viable claim.
Many investors incorrectly believe they cannot seek compensation because they signed an arbitration agreement. An arbitration provision generally does not prevent an investor from pursuing recovery. Instead, it typically requires the dispute to be resolved through FINRA arbitration rather than traditional courtroom litigation.
Time is critical because FINRA eligibility rules, statutes of limitation, and other deadlines may affect your claim. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. offers free consultations to evaluate your circumstances and explain your potential recovery options.
Can I Sue Calton & Associates?
You may be able to pursue a claim against Calton & Associates if you lost money because of misconduct by the firm or one of its financial advisors. However, you likely signed a customer agreement requiring investment disputes to be resolved through FINRA arbitration instead of a traditional lawsuit in court.
An experienced FINRA arbitration lawyer can investigate the alleged misconduct, calculate your losses, prepare the required Statement of Claim, obtain relevant evidence, and represent you before a FINRA arbitration panel.
Attorney Robert Wayne Pearce has extensive experience in FINRA arbitration proceedings involving claims of fraud, negligence, misrepresentation, unsuitable investments, fiduciary breaches, and brokerage-firm supervisory failures.
The most direct way to determine whether you have a viable claim against Calton & Associates is to have an attorney review the circumstances surrounding your losses.
How to Sue Calton & Associates for Investment Losses
What Can I Do If I Lost Money at Calton & Associates?
If you lost money at Calton & Associates because of broker misconduct, unsuitable investments, or fraud, you may be able to pursue compensation through FINRA arbitration. This process allows investors to present claims before a neutral arbitration panel that determines whether a brokerage firm or financial advisor is responsible for the losses.
Potential claims may involve fraud, misrepresentation, unsuitable recommendations, excessive fees, negligence, supervisory failures, or a breach of fiduciary duty. A knowledgeable breach of fiduciary duty lawyer can evaluate whether a financial professional failed to act with the care, loyalty, and diligence required under the circumstances.
An unsuitable investments lawyer can also determine whether the recommended investments were appropriate for your financial circumstances, investment objectives, risk tolerance, age, liquidity requirements, and income needs.
The arbitration process generally begins with a Statement of Claim describing the misconduct, resulting damages, and legal grounds for recovery. Account statements, transaction records, emails, text messages, financial plans, investment presentations, and other communications may provide important evidence.
Signing an arbitration agreement does not eliminate your right to pursue compensation. It ordinarily determines the forum in which your dispute must be resolved.
Who Can Help Me Sue Calton & Associates?
Pursuing a successful claim against Calton & Associates requires an attorney with specific experience in securities arbitration. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce has handled numerous cases involving independent broker-dealers and understands the supervisory failures and compliance issues that plague firms like Calton & Associates. Our firm knows how to build compelling cases that connect a firm’s documented regulatory violations to individual investor losses, presenting evidence that resonates with arbitration panels.
What is Calton & Associates?
Calton & Associates (CRD# 20999) 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, Calton & Associates 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.
Why Does Calton & Associates Have So Many Bad Reviews and Customer Complaints?
Independent broker-dealers such as Calton & Associates frequently operate through networks of smaller offices whose representatives are supervised remotely. Unlike traditional brokerage branches with managers and compliance personnel working on-site, these offices may not receive continuous day-to-day oversight.
Without prompt review of new accounts, investment recommendations, securities transactions, client correspondence, and outside business activities, potentially harmful conduct may go undetected. This can include unsuitable recommendations, forged documents, misleading statements, unauthorized transactions, or inaccurate representations of a customer’s finances and investment objectives.
Brokerage firms have an independent obligation to establish, maintain, and enforce reasonable supervisory systems. A failure-to-supervise lawyer can investigate whether Calton & Associates monitored its representatives, reviewed account activity, responded to warning signs, and enforced appropriate compliance procedures.
Calton & Associates Has Many Different Regulatory Problems
Calton & Associates’ rapid growth has not been without consequences. There have been approximately 12 state and 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) for a violation(s) of investment-related rules or regulations. In addition, there have been hundreds of customer complaints filed against Calton & Associates for misconduct by its securities sales and investment advisory representatives that are not reported by the firm on its Central Depository Record.
We have reported and written about these regulatory problems and customer complaints over many years. Calton & Associates is a repeat offender: there are over 12 FINRA-reported disciplinary proceedings citing the firm with one form of supervisory lapses or another.
A Brief Overview of Some of the Regulatory Problems Calton & Associates Has Faced Over the Years*
Calton & Associates has been repeatedly censured, warned, and fined multi-millions of dollars for its own misconduct and failure to supervise its army of financial advisors.* A few of the notable FINRA Sanctions for its Supervisory Failures are below:
Calton & Associates’ Supervisory Issues with Exchange Traded Products
Brief overview: In May 2019, Calton & Associates was censured and fined $250,000 by FINRA for alleged supervisory failures related to the sale of non-traditional and volatility-linked exchange traded products (ETPs). The firm was also ordered to pay restitution of $472,007.20 plus interest to customers. Calton allegedly permitted its representatives to offer these complex products to retail customers without a proper supervisory system in place, leading to financial losses when customers held the products for longer periods than intended.
SEC Charges Calton & Associates with Breaching Fiduciary Duty
Brief overview: In March 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Calton & Associates, Inc. with breaches of fiduciary duty and inadequate disclosures related to mutual fund share class selection practices and associated fees. The firm allegedly purchased, recommended, or held higher-cost mutual fund share classes that charged 12b-1 fees, instead of lower-cost share classes for eligible clients. Calton and its associated persons received 12b-1 fees without proper disclosure, resulting in censure, disgorgement, and prejudgment interest totaling $305,044.
Failure to Report Transactions by Calton & Associates:
Brief overview: In November 2016, Calton & Associates was fined $5,000 by FINRA for failing to report transactions in Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE)-eligible securitized products within the required timeframe. The firm consented to the sanction without admitting or denying the findings. This failure to report violated FINRA Rule 6730(a) and resulted in the imposition of a monetary fine.
Broker Misconduct and Customer Complaints at Calton & Associates
Brokerage firms have a responsibility to supervise their representatives and take reasonable measures to detect misconduct. When brokers make fraudulent statements, conceal material risks, recommend unsuitable investments, or misuse customer funds, both the representative and brokerage firm may bear responsibility for resulting investor losses.
A fraud and misrepresentation lawyer can review what an investor was told, identify information that may have been omitted, and determine whether false or misleading statements influenced the investment decision.
Calton & Associates has been associated with several reported matters involving alleged broker misconduct, fraudulent activity, unsuitable recommendations, and supervisory issues.
Fraud and Theft by Former Advisor Chris Kubiak
Brief overview: In September 2019, former Calton & Associates advisor Chris Kubiak was sentenced to 30 months in prison for allegedly defrauding four clients, including three senior citizens, and stealing $370,000 from them between June 2015 and August 2018. Kubiak reportedly used the stolen money for gambling and personal expenses. He was affiliated with Calton & Associates in Brookfield, WI from July 2017 until his termination in October 2018 following his arrest. FINRA subsequently barred Kubiak from working in the securities industry.
Private Securities Transactions and Misrepresentations by Former Advisor Randy Burke
Brief overview: In October 2015, former Calton advisor Randy Burke was barred from the industry for allegedly participating in private securities transactions without providing written notice to his member firm. He allegedly made misrepresentations to an elderly customer regarding her entitlement to future profits from the sale of a lodge property in Alaska. Burke reportedly deposited $38,000 of the customer’s money into a joint business checking account he shared with his wife and used it for personal gain. He also allegedly used another customer’s money in the sale of false investments in an entity called “Lodge Alaska, LLC”. Burke was registered with Calton & Associates in Hickory from September 2013 until October 2015 and has three customer disputes filed against him.
Did Calton & Associates Advisor Misconduct Cause You Investment Losses?
When financial advisor misconduct has caused you to lose substantial value to your investment accounts, you have the right to seek reimbursement from the responsible parties. Calton & Associates is responsible like any employer for its financial advisors acts and omissions. In addition, it has an independent duty to supervise its stockbrokers and investment advisors. These cases can be extremely complex, and so having the support of a reputable attorney who is experienced in recovering investment losses for investors is key to your success. Many customers make the mistake of contacting Calton & Associates without representation with an attorney about their complaints and have their complaints denied.
Consult With An Attorney Who Recovers Investment Losses Caused By Calton & Associates Today
The investment-loss attorneys at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. represent investors who have suffered losses because of broker negligence, unsuitable recommendations, fraud, misrepresentations, fiduciary breaches, unauthorized transactions, and brokerage-firm supervisory failures.
Investors seeking a Florida investment fraud lawyer can have their potential Calton & Associates claims evaluated regardless of where they live in the state.
Our firm serves investors in communities throughout Florida, including Tampa, Miami, Orlando, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach.
You do not need to live near the firm’s principal office to have your potential investment-loss claim reviewed. Attorney Pearce is committed to investigating the conduct that caused investors’ losses and pursuing accountability from the responsible parties.
Call us at 866-860-7447 to discuss your case and determine what options may be available to seek the compensation you need and deserve.
