FINRA barred former Financial West Group and Western International Securities (both Los Angeles, California) broker Paul Edward Soll for refusing to cooperate with an investigation involving trading abuses in an elderly client's account that purportedly occurred while Soll was registered with Financial West Group, which also lists Westlake Village as an employer location.
The findings state that as part of a 2017 examination of Financial West Group, FINRA staff looked into Soll's trading activities while he was with the firm, focusing specifically on possible excessive trading, churning, and unsuitable recommendations of penny stocks for a trust account belonging to an elderly customer at the firm.
When Soll informed FINRA of his refusal to cooperate with its investigation, the regulator opted to ban him from the securities industry.
Soll's BrokerCheck report (CRD #430284) lists a decades-old customer dispute, settled for $660,000, that alleged breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misrepresentation regarding a leveraged product, and occurred when Soll was affiliated with Oppenheimer & Co.
Account churning, which occurs when a broker excessively trades an account, can lead to exorbitant and illegitimate commissions and fees that are harmful to the client while benefiting the broker, financial adviser, or firm. For instance, the risks and damages posed by excessive trading can be greatly compounded when the product involved happens to be a collection of penny stocks, which the SEC and FINRA previously warned is a product susceptible to fraudulent scams, such as pump-and-dump price manipulation schemes.
Thus, the investor not only encounters damages due to churning, but those resulting from exposure to a risky or unsuitable product, as well.
If you have invested with former Financial West Group broker Paul Edward Soll or with any registered representative or financial adviser who has engaged in churning or excessive trading in your account, or who has recommended unsuitable and needlessly risky products, such as penny stocks, resulting in harm to your investments or interests, please call The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.