Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is one of the country's largest life insurance companies. It recently succeeded American Express Financial Advisors, which was a company controlled by the American Express Company. American Express Financial Advisors became an independent company in 2005. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is now publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol AMP. Ameriprise has over 12,000 financial advisors and has recently acquired H&R Block Financial Advisors and J. & W. Seligman & Co. The company's headquarters are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A securities brokerage firm licensed by FINRA, Ameriprise Financial has a legal duty to supervise its brokers and its brokers' recommendations to clients to ensure compliance with and prevent violations of the rules of the security industry. When an individual broker is negligent or acts in an unlawful manner against the interests of the client and that client suffers damages as a result of such wrongdoing, the firm may be held liable for the investor's losses.
Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. and some of its brokers have had encounters with FINRA in the past due to claims of misconduct. For example, in 2005 Ameriprise was fined $500,000 for supervisory violations in 529 college savings plan sales, which are tax-advantaged investment programs designed to help parents save for their children's post high school education costs. In addition to this fine, FINRA required Ameriprise to provide financial compensation to the appropriate customers for their losses.
Also in 2005, Ameriprise was fined $12.3 million due to brokerage violations. The violations were over "preferential treatment" Ameriprise gave to various mutual fund companies. Specifically, Ameriprise's conduct violated something known as the Anti-Reciprocal Rule. This violation, as well as the one listed previously, occurred when Ameriprise Financial Services was still known as American Express Financial Advisors. This misconduct took place between January 2001 and December 2003.
In 2013, FINRA fined Ameriprise (as well as Clearing Firm) for $750,000 for failure to supervise. The violations occurred when Ameriprise did not provide accurate supervision required by the securities industry while transmitting customer funds to third-party accounts. Within the same case, FINRA banned Jennifer Guelinas, a registered Ameriprise broker, from the securities industry for her misconduct.
Meyer Wilson’s investment loss lawyers possess finely-honed skills and resources that come from exclusive practice in the field of securities fraud. This allows them to aggressively and successfully pursue claims against the nation’s largest, most well-protected brokerage firms in both federal and state court, as well as in arbitration with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and private arbitration. Our securities arbitration attorneys even represent international clients with claims against U.S. investment firms.
If you entrusted your hard-earned money to Ameriprise or to one of its registered brokers and you suffered significant financial losses, Meyer Wilson can help you recover those losses. To determine whether you have a case against Ameriprise Financial for your losses, call us or complete our online form for a free case evaluation.
