Former Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Chief Compliance Officer Allen Bernard Holeman is the latest Oppenheimer registrant under investigation by FINRA for failing to comply with industry rules and regulations regarding reporting and disclosure.
An early 2016 industry-wide study of financial advisers found that of all firms, Oppenheimer & Co. employed the highest percentage of advisers with one or more instances of misconduct on their FINRA BrokerCheck record.
The study found that 19.60% of Oppenheimer's 2,275 financial advisers had previously been disciplined for misconduct, ranking first ahead of second-place firm First Allied Securities (17.72%) and No. 3 Wells Fargo Advisers FN (15.30%).
As for Holeman, who is presently CCO for David Lerner Associates, Inc., FINRA found that the Chief Compliance Officer himself failed to comply with reporting and disclosure rules, alleging that Holeman willfully failed to timely amend his industry form U4 to disclose two federal tax liens.
This is not the first time Oppenheimer and Holeman have been associated with a failure-to-disclose dispute. In 2014, during the pendency of an arbitration case against former Oppenheimer broker Mark Hotton, the complaining customers accused Oppenheimer of withholding key evidence. In 2007, the SEC had written a letter to CCO Holeman stating that the firm had not properly supervised Hotton, who traded improperly in 11 of his clients' accounts. The NYTimes states that specific piece of evidence—which Oppenheimer failed to produce—would have "completely destroyed" the firm's defense that it had not been aware of Hotton's problems.
Needless to say, Hotton would have been classified as one of the 19.60% of Oppenheimer's personnel with previous disciplinary history.
Holeman's BrokerCheck report indicates the investigation is the CCO's third disclosure event, following two previous judgment/liens events.
If you have invested with Oppenheimer & Co., or with any firm, broker, or financial adviser whose failure to follow industry disclosure and reporting rules, or whose other reportable misconduct or failure to adequately supervise a broker or financial adviser has proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.