Recently, Meyer Wilson reported that a former Merrill Lynch broker was facing several investor complaints regarding improprieties on their accounts. Today, FINRA announced that it was barring Thomas Buck from the securities industry.
Merrill Lynch fired Buck back in March after various customer complaints began to surface. After leaving Merrill, Buck went to work for RBC Wealth Management. Now, he is prohibited from associating with any FINRA member firm. In the letter of settlement, FINRA accused Buck of improperly charging his customers and authorizing trades without his customers’ consent.
To learn more about unauthorized trading, the investment fraud lawyers at Meyer Wilson have provided some helpful resources:
Prior to these customer complaints and ban by FINRA, Buck had been Merrill Lynch’s top broker in Indiana in terms of assets managed - $1.3 billion.
Despite the fact that 70% of all Merrill Lynch accounts in Indiana were fee-based, an option that is less expensive for the customer, since 2009, Buck had opted for primarily commission-based accounts. To justify the more expensive commission-based accounts, claims FINRA, Buck made various misrepresentations regarding potential advantages of this model.
When reached for comment, representatives at RBC claimed that the allegations against Buck were inconsistent with how Buck portrayed himself during the hiring process with RBC. RBC said that it remains dedicated to careful management of its customers’ accounts, and claims that the misconduct allegations facing Buck did not originate at any period while he was registered with RBC.
If you trusted a broker or financial advisor with your investments and you lost a substantial amount of money, we invite you to contact Meyer Wilson today and tell us what happened. We will provide you with a free review of your case so you can learn your legal rights and options.
