Edward Jones primarily serves individual investors as a privately held brokerage firm based in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1922 by Edward D. Jones, the firm is a limited partnership that serves clients through its 12,000 branch-office locations in the U.S. and Canada.
A securities brokerage firm licensed by FINRA, Edward Jones 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.
Disciplinary actions have been taken against Edward Jones in the past for various acts of misconduct. In an effort to crack down on variable annuity abuses, Gregory Hunter of Edward Jones was charged with "unsuitable sales transaction." There are pitfalls with variable annuity swaps, but yet some brokers and firms continue to recommend them to their clients. Often, these recommendations are made based on benefit that the broker will receive rather than what is in the best interests of the investor.
In 2004, Edward Jones had to pay $75 million due to charges of revenue sharing filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), NASD and the New York Stock Exchange. The lawsuit alleged that Edward Jones did not adequately disclose revenue sharing payments it received from mutual fund families that it recommended to customers. The lawsuit also stated other illegal activities.
In 2009, FINRA fined Edward Jones $900,000 due to "failure to timely deliver official statements to customers who purchased new-issue municipal securities and related supervisory and record-keeping failures." Broker-dealer firms like Edward Jones are required by law to issue copies of official statements to their customers either on or before the settlement date. In this case, FINRA stated that Edward Jones was consistently late in delivering these official statements.
If you suffered significant financial losses due to misconduct by Edward Jones or a broker of this firm, Meyer Wilson has the experience and financial resources you need to bring a claim against this company. Investor claims against securities brokerage firms such as Edward Jones is what our firm does on a daily basis. We can represent clients with investor claims in federal and state courts, and in arbitration through The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and private arbitration. We are also prepared to represent clients internationally with claims against U.S. brokerage firms through FINRA. To determine whether you have a case against Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. for your losses, call us or complete our online form for a free case evaluation.
