Missouri Stockbrokers Make Bad Call With Improper Investment Offers
Stockbrokers in the state of Missouri may want to reconsider who’s on the receiving end of their cold calls. Recently, Missouri securities regulators filed cease-and-desist orders against representatives from broker/dealers Financial Network Investment Corp. and Meyers Associates LP of New York after their reps inadvertently called Missouri Securities Division staff members with bogus investment offers.
As reported Dec. 23 by Investment News, the November 23 action involving Financial Network Investment Corp. occurred when one of its broker pitched the Nuveen Multi-Strategy Income and Growth Fund 2 to a registration specialist and an investigator, telling them “they could expect a 20% to 25% return during that six- to eight-month period.”
The broker, Derek Robertson, is not registered to sell securities in Missouri. According to the cease and desist order, Robertson “characterized his return projection as a ‘realistic’ and ‘very conservative’ estimate.”
In December, Sukhwan Michael Yun, a broker from Meyers Associates, also contacted Missouri securities regulators, where he proceeded to pitch shares of Nuance Communications Inc. During the telephone call, Michael reportedly discussed the stock’s potential to rise to $28 or $29 per share, based on the belief that it was going to be acquired by Apple.
Later, in a Dec. 8 call, Yun “continued to pressure the regulator to make an immediate purchase, asking, ‘Why don’t we do this?’”
Yun, who also is not registered to sell securities in the state of Missouri, went on to describe Nuance Communications as the “Bentley of stocks,” and that it would be “money in the bank.” He also stated that an investment in the stock was “safe money,” according to the Missouri action.
The agents involved in the Missouri actions may face stiff fines for violations of transacting business as an unregistered agent, employing an unregistered agent and multiple violations of omitting to state material facts in connection with the offer or sale of a security.
Meanwhile, the Missouri Securities Division’s investigation into the possible failure of both Meyers Associates and the Financial Network Investment Corp. to reasonably supervise their agents remains ongoing.