NEXT Financial Group Inc. Investment Attorney

Our law offices represent clients in investment and securities related disputes against investment firms, such as NEXT Financial Group Inc. (NEXT Financial). Typical claims brought on behalf of clients include investment misconduct related to suitability, failure to supervise, unauthorized trading, and misrepresentations concerning various investment products. Our attorneys can analyze your brokerage account statements, confirmations, and trading activity to determine the extent of the financial losses and provide a consultation.

NEXT Financial was created in 1998 based upon an independent broker/dealer model. The company grew quickly, and had headquarters in Houston, Texas. Companies WE2, NFISCO, and 4WARD Marketing were established along side of NEXT Financial Group, Inc. under the newly founded NEXT Financial Holdings. According to NEXT Financial, each of the companies were developed in accordance with NEXT’s culture, giving every advisor the power to make decisions and give input about the company’s future. Today, NEXT Financial Group has grown from $4 million in gross revenue to over $131 million.

NEXT Financial – By the Numbers:

• CRD# 46214
• SEC# 8-51356
• 11 Regulatory Events
• 2 Customer Complaints
• Total Revenues: $118 million – 2012
• Total Account Assets: $14.3 billion – 2012
• Number of Retail Offices: 577
• Representatives: 875 - 2012

NEXT Financial – In the News:

FINRA v. NEXT Financial – The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined NEXT Financial Group, Inc. $1 million for supervisory violations that involved the failure to supervise its approximately 130 Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJ) branch managers. According to FINRA, OSJ branch managers' transactions and sales activities are then supposed to be supervised by another registered principal designated by the firm. However, between January 2005 and November 2006, FINRA found that the firm allowed its OSJ branch managers to self-supervise their own handling of customer accounts without adequate review. FINRA determined that the lack of reasonable policies and written procedures resulted in the firm’s failure to detect churning of customer accounts by an OSJ manager and a broker as well as excessive markups and markdowns on corporate bond trades by another two brokers.

In the Matter of NEXT Financial Group, Inc., AWC No. 2011028898802 (May 3, 2013) - FINRA fined the firm $250,000 concerning allegations that from February 6, 2008, through June 18, 2012, two of NEXT's registered representatives operated an approved outside business activity and used their outside business email accounts to send or receive securities related correspondence with customers. NEXT's written supervisory procedures allowed such use of non-NEXT email addresses in customer communications provided that the outside email domain names were approved and hosted by NEXT. However, FINRA alleged that during the 2009 annual branch audit of the two subject registered persons' branch, NEXT discovered that their outside business emails were not being captured or maintained on NEXT's server and, therefore, were not being reviewed. Despite this knowledge, the FINRA found that NEXT failed to take any corrective steps.

Our attorneys has successfully represented hundreds of investors in their broker disputes with their advisor firms. Our consultations are free and we welcome all inquiries.