Massachusetts Securities Attorneys

The Massachusetts securities attorneys at Gana Weinstein LLP represent individuals and institutions involved in securities arbitration within the state of Massachusetts and in arbitration proceedings before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Our securities attorneys, investment attorneys and FINRA attorneys represent investors in all major Massachusetts cities and counties including Boston, Worchester, Springfield, Lowell, Cambridge, New Bedford, Brockton, Quincy, Lynn, Wellesley, Brookline, Newton, Weston Dover, and Fall River.

Many of your investor clients have suffered substantial losses in their investment portfolios by the time clients first retain our securities attorneys. Unfortunately, many clients cannot discern where their funds have gone, how their broker permitted such losses to occur in the first place, and what their investments are currently worth.

Massachusetts investors are protected by industry rules and regulations and federal and state securities laws that prevent brokers from engaging in the unsuitable sale of securities, churning, fraud, breach of fiduciary duties, unauthorized trading, and negligence. Below are useful links and resources covering some of the investor protections available in the State of Massachusetts:

• Massachusetts Securities Division administers and enforces the Uniform Securities Act. The division strives to ensure free and competitive securities market in the State of Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Securities Division is one of the most proactive in the country and leads the charge against unscrupulous brokerage activity. The Enforcement Section of the Massachusetts Securities Division is responsible for enforcing Massachusetts securities laws.
  
  The Massachusetts Securities Division focuses on four categories of consumer complaints: 1) Unregistered fraudulent activity. This activity occurs when an investor is sold a security in Massachusetts and that security was not registered in the state. 2) Excessive trading or churning. Churning is a type of overtrading for the purpose of generating commissions. 3) Unsuitable recommendations. Recommendations to purchase securities must be suitable. A broker must consider the investors education, objectives, risk tolerances, tax consequences, wealth and sophistication when making recommendations. Those recommendations must be suitable. 4) Unauthorize trading, which occurs when a trade is executed without the investor’s knowledge. This conduct can include theft or simply the sale of securities without consent.
• Consumer Protection Division within the Attorney General’s office utilizes investigative and enforcement tools to protect consumers from fraud, deception and unfair business practices.
• Massachusetts Securities Act regulates the offer, sale or purchase of any security within the capital markets. The Massachusetts Securities Act requires that when a person or entity offers to buy, sell, or exchange a security in Massachusetts, that individual or entity cannot “engage in any act, practice, or course of business which operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit upon any person” in Massachusetts.
• FINRA allows investors to look up their brokers history and determine whether there are any regulatory actions against your broker. FINRA also has an enforcement arm designed to ensure that brokers and broker-dealers follow the FINRA rules and make sure that they do not sell unsuitable investments, churn accounts, steal investors money, etc.
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also creates and enforces the securities laws at the federal level.

You can learn more about our firm and about the various claims mentioned in this article by visiting the Securities Arbitration page of our website. Our Massachusetts securities attorneys have extensive experience in FINRA arbitrations brining claims related to churning, unsuitable investment strategies, broker theft, supervisory deficiencies, and similar claims related to broker malfeasance and misconduct in Massachusetts. Our Massachusetts securities attorneys are here to help you in any way they can. While most FINRA claims that are brought in Massachusetts are heard in Boston our investment attorneys represent investors throughout the state.

Our consultations are free of charge and the firm is only compensated if you recover. Therefore, you can send our Massachusetts investment attorneys your account statements to analyze free of charge and the attorneys can determine whether you have a claim worth pursuing. You can reach us at 800-810-4262 or by email at agana@ganallp.com.

---