Stockbrokers are like inmates in a maximum security prison.
FINRA is the prison warden that lays down all the ground rules. Any inmate who violate these rules will be penalized.
As inmates, greedy and unscrupulous stockbrokers would target unsuspecting clients, manipulate their trust and cleverly circumvent the rules to get what they want without actual breaking of the rules. They consistently walk as close to that cliff without falling over.
As a elementary example, if the magic number is 10 trades initiated in an investment account in a given month would result in a churning violation, that stockbroker would only make 9 trades. Greedy and unscrupulous brokers maximize as much activity as they can for a commission in an unsuspected client's account to be just below the radar, to be just below the violation and these actions are always at the expense of the client. Because of the complexity of multiple factors in a investor's portfolio including trading activity, it is difficult to measure exactly how many unscrupulous actions initiated by the broker would constitute a violation. All investment firms like Janney have setup fail-safe algorithm programs into their computer systems to prevent such violation and FINRA tends to always side with the brokerage firms and not the investor if no violation was clearly hit. FINRA is basically and simply not on the side of the consumer public even it there is a clear pattern of repetitive bad behavior initiated by the broker. Not even how frequent that broker walked close to that cliff every month, every quarter, every year. Not even if the investor clearly lost money at the hands of their broker. FINRA will only act if a violation was committed.
Just because a stockbroker does not have any disclosures cited by FINRA, this does not mean that they are wholesome and honest fiduciary professionals. The unscrupulous ones, like prison inmates, would know how to play the system and play it very well. They target the client who they can easily manipulate or possess the lowest risk of knowing they are being victimized.
Unfortunately, if FINRA does not act against a clear bad behavior of a stockbroker who did not commit a violation, what else can we, the consumer public, do?
Well, hats off to these someone who is giving these unscrupulous stockbrokers a taste of their own medicine!
I googled the words "Janney Montgomery Scott complaints" and in the Images tab, I noticed multiple unflattering pictures appearing on the top page of the word search. The image of an Asian woman labeled with the words "Face of Greed" caught my attention and so, I clicked on it.
This woman is named Pearl Lee and she is a Philadelphia stockbroker for Janney Montgomery Scott!
Further web search and you can find complaints about her on almost every consumer websites out there.
I found no disclosures on FINRA about her but if you read the details of the complaints, she has done the unscrupulous "under the radar" work for her clients that I mentioned above.
And get this, one of her victims she targeted was her own brother! <What a Bitch!>
Pearl Lee should be used as an example and a lesson to all stockbrokers (or financial advisers) out there who think they can take advantage of unsuspecting clients for a commission. If you think FINRA is the only watchdog you have to worry about when you victimize your clients, think again! There are multiple consumer complaint websites to even the score. Google "Pearl Lee" of Janney and see the pictures and complaints and learn!
