Houston Security Fraud Lawyer

Any investor could become a victim of securities fraud, including middle-class families who work with a financial advisor toward retirement or other financial goals. You don’t have to be a millionaire investor to fall prey. Securities fraud can happen to anyone.

Whether you’ve lost your life savings to someone you trusted or suffered a substantial loss related to misrepresented investments, you could have a legal case. Call Roberts Markland, LLP to discuss with an experienced Houston securities fraud lawyer about your case. A talented business fraud attorney could explain your options.

What is Securities Fraud?

Securities fraud is any method of lying about crucial information that is used by investors to make a decision about an investment. Take, for example, a stockbroker giving a potential investor fake information that makes a stock look more profitable than it is. The investor is more likely to invest based on this information. The stockbroker committed securities fraud by lying about the potential profit to be made off of that stock since the broker makes money off of those investments.

Securities fraud and all of its subtypes are defined by the Securities Exchange Act (1933 and 1934). There have been subsequent additions and additional laws like the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 that address new versions of securities fraud that may not have been explicitly covered, as well as providing updated legislation on securities fraud for the modern-day. The general idea behind these laws is that stockbrokers (and their counterparts in other fields) must provide accurate information and representations about investments. It is to protect investors from being fooled into making bad investments so that financial advisors can turn a profit. In essence, they have to provide good information about investments so that they profit from investors making good investments.

Types of Securities Fraud

Securities fraud is a broad topic that covers many other crimes that investors are more likely to have heard of. The types of securities fraud include:

• Securities fraud is a broad topic that covers many other crimes that investors are more likely to have heard of. The types of securities fraud include:
• Bond Fraud – Falsifying information on the quality of bonds to inflate the selling price.
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty – Any violation of the legal responsibilities of financial advisors.
• Broker Misrepresentations – Misrepresenting key information about an investment opportunity.
• Churning – Processing unnecessary trades in an investor’s account so that the advisor profits from the commissions.
• Excessive Trading – Processing excessive (but profitable) trades in an investor’s account to increase commission fees.
• Failure to Supervise – Ignoring an account, which results in losing money or investments due to a lack of supervision.
• Investment Fraud – Lying or misrepresenting an investment opportunity, or creating a fake investment to steal from potential investors.
• Margin Trading – Borrowing money (taking credit) from your advisor to buy more stock than you could afford on your own.
• Overconcentration of Assets – Putting all of an investor’s assets in a small portfolio or single investment, exposing it to an unreasonable amount of risk, and ignoring a responsibility to diversify.

Speak with a Memphis Security Fraud Attorney

To increase the chance you’ll win your case, you need an attorney with demonstrated security fraud experience. One that understands the law and how to best prosecute financial advisors and companies for their misrepresentations. Competent legal representation can make a significant difference in whether your case is settled out of court or goes into the courtroom.

It is time to take a stand against securities fraud by working with an experienced attorney to recover some of your losses. Timely legal action can make a big difference in how much money is able to be recovered. Call Roberts Markland, LLP to reach a Houston-based legal team with the experience delivering favorable verdicts to clients.