FINRA has fined Newbridge Securities Corporation $59,000 and ordered it to repay investors more than $100,000 for investments in a publicly offered alternative mutual fund. The alternative mutual fund invested in uncovered options and lost most of its value. Option trading in any form is high risk and investors can lose all of their investments. Newbridge Securities Corporation was previously fined by FINRA for improper sale of private placements.
Other firms like Alliance Bernstein and Morgan Stanley have recently had claims filed against them for an option margin strategy where investors borrowed to purchase stock and then write options. Options trading is seldom suitable for most investors and when combined with margin borrowing is a high risk or speculative strategy. If your broker has recommended options or margin for your account, you may have a claim for damages.
Newbridge Securities Corporation has also been fined by FINRA for selling unsuitable inverse and leveraged ETFs and structured products. Inverse and leveraged funds are bets that the market or a group of stocks will go down. FINRA warns that these types of funds are unsuitable for most investors and should only be held for short periods of time-like one day. Structured products are loans tied to the underlying performance of stocks which are also not suitable for most investors. Newbridge has been fined for failing to supervise these types of unsuitable transactions.
Newbridge Securities currently has 31 regulatory disclosures on its publicly available FINRA CRD.
If you suffered losses in your Newbridge Securities Corporation account, the Mark Tepper Law Firm is offering a FREE case evaluation to determine whether your broker’s recommendations were unsuitable for your investment and retirement needs. To initiate the process, you can contact Attorney Mark A. Tepper by sending an email to askmark@marktepper.com or calling 954-704-2310.