According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) Mark Kaplan (CRD# 1978048) has been barred from the industry. Broker Mark Kaplan was accused by FINRA of causing $723,000 in trading losses in a 93 year old client’s account while generating almost the same amount of commissions and fees for himself and his brokerage firm, Vanderbilt Securities. The 93 year old client was a retired clothing salesman who suffered from dementia. FINRA stated that the elderly client’s Social Security payments were his only source of income. According to FINRA, during the time that Mr. Kaplan acted as the client’s broker, the customer had a decline in his mental health and was diagnosed with dementia.
According to the FINRA Acceptance Waiver and Consent, Kaplan “engaged in churning and unsuitable excessive trading in the brokerage accounts of a senior customer”. Over the four (4) year time period that Mr. Kaplan served as the client’s broker, he churned the client’s account by making more than 3,500 trades in the client’s account according to FINRA. FINRA found that this level of trading was excessive and unsuitable for the client given his investment profile, including his age, risk tolerance, and income needs. The trades resulted in about $723,000 in trading losses and $735,000 in commissions for Mr. Kaplan and Vanderbilt. FINRA found that Mr. Kaplan exercised de facto control over the client’s account and omitted to advise the elderly client of the extent of his losses or the aggregate amount he paid in sales charges and commissions.
Mark Kaplan has a seven (7) customer complaints which resulted in settlements ranging from $11,500 to $500,000. According to FINRA’s Broker Check, Mark Kaplan was registered with the securities industry for 29 years, and was registered with the following firm:
Vanderbilt Securities, LLC
CRD # 5953
Woodbury, NY
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
CRD # 149777
New York, NY
Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.
CRD# 7059
New York, NY
Morgan Stanley DW, Inc.
CRD# 7556
Purchase, NY
CIBC Oppenheimer Corp.
CRD# 630
New York, NY
Lehman Brothers, Inc.
CRD# 7506
New York, NY
HANLEY LAW
Hanley law represents individual investors nationwide with significant losses in their portfolios, retirement plans or investment accounts. The firm is dedicated to assisting investors to recover losses suffered by unsuitability, over-concentration, fraud, misrepresentation, self-dealing, unauthorized trades or other wrongful acts, whether intentional or negligent. The firm handles cases against the major Wall Street broker dealers, including Vanderbilt Securities, LLC.
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