Next Financial Group– New Procedures but Misconduct Reportedly Continues

According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on Tuesday, the regulator has fined Next Financial Group Inc.  $750,000 as part of a settlement for several supervisory violations.

This is not the first time the firm has been in hot water with FINRA. The regulator fined Next Financial $1.54 million and ordered it to pay $2.1 million in restitution to clients over a variety of issues from 2009 until 2014,  including the sale of fraudulent private placements, excessive trading and account churning.

Next Financial reportedly adopted new measures to correct those deficiencies, but misconduct has continued, according to FINRA.

The firm’s most recent violations are from August 2012 through September 2015. Next Financial allegedly failed to detect excessive trading in a senior investor’s accounts that resulted in losses of $392,000 and an unnamed broker generating total gross commissions of $148,000, according to the settlement.

Supervisory Issues with L-share annuities

According to the AWC, Next Financial had similar problems concerning the supervision of sales of variable annuities, which accounted for a significant part of its revenues, during that time period.

An L-Share Annuity is a common share class offered by a variable annuity that has a short surrender period but with higher administrative costs. Recently FINRA has censured and fined several broker-dealers for supervisory failures regarding L-share contracts.

Investigating Potential Claims

The White Law Group is investigating the liability that brokerage firms may have for losses sustained by their clients.  Brokerage firms are required to adequately supervise their agents to ensure they are complying with FINRA rules. If it is determined that the broker dealer failed to supervise their agents, they can be held responsible for losses in a FINRA arbitration claim.

Are you concerned about your investments with Next Financial Group?  The attorneys at The White Law Group may be able to help you. For a free consultation with a securities attorney, please call (888) 637-5510.

The foregoing information, which is all publicly available on FINRA’s website, is being provided by The White Law Group. The White Law Group is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, and investor protection law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Vero Beach, Florida.

For more information on The White Law Group, please visit www.whitesecuritieslaw.com