SEC fines Cadaret, Grant, top officials, and a broker for an investment recommendation

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has fined Syracuse–based Cadaret, Grant & Co. Inc., two of the firm’s top officials, and a broker for providing a recommendation “without a reasonable basis” on an investment.

In its news release, the SEC said it had “obtained monetary relief” to reimburse investors for losses on a leveraged oil-linked exchange-traded note (ETN) the registered representatives with Cadaret, Grant had “recommended without a reasonable basis.”

The SEC found that Cadaret Grant; its president, Arthur Grant; and senior VP Beda Lee Johnson “failed reasonably” to supervise the firm’s representatives who had recommended that customers buy and hold the leveraged oil-linked ETN “without a reasonable basis.”

Without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings, Cadaret, Grant agreed to be censured and pay a $500,000 penalty plus $13,194 in disgorgement and interest.

Grant and Johnson each agreed to a 12-month supervisory suspension and will pay penalties of $100,000 and $75,000 respectively, the SEC said.

In addition, Cadaret, Grant broker Eugene Long agreed to be censured and pay a $250,000 penalty, per the release.

The penalties, disgorgement, and interest amounts paid will be placed in a “Fair Fund” that will “reimburse harmed investors for their incurred losses, plus reasonable interest.”

Cadaret, Grant statement

Cadaret, Grant forwarded the following statement to BJNN in reaction to the SEC order.

“The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a settled order against Cadaret, Grant containing findings regarding certain types of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) that the firm no longer sells to clients. Art Grant and Beda Lee (BJ) Johnson will pay a fine and received sanctions. Cadaret, Grant and a Cadaret, Grant advisor will also pay a fine. FINRA has simultaneously issued a settlement against Cadaret, Grant that pertains to some of the same items that were covered in the SEC order. All of the parties entered into the SEC settlements, and Cadaret, Grant entered into the FINRA settlement, without admitting or denying any of the allegations against them,” the firm said.

FINRA is the Washington, D.C.–based Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The Syracuse firm’s statement continued, saying, “Cadaret, Grant is committed to ensuring that we fully comply with our regulatory obligations. Many of the allegations in these cases relate to conduct that occurred several years ago, and we have already taken significant steps to address the issues discussed in the SEC and FINRA matters to ensure they do not occur again. In addition, pursuant to the settled orders, Cadaret, Grant has retained a compliance consulting firm with extensive experience in similar matters to identify and implement additional enhancements to our compliance program. We look forward to working with the consulting firm on adopting these enhancements.”

Background

The SEC order found that before recommending the investment, the brokers did not take steps to “reasonably research or understand inherent risks” of the ETN or the index it tracked. According to the order, the ETN was meant to be a daily trading tool for sophisticated investors and was not designed to be held for more than one day. The brokers “mistakenly believed” the ETN’s value would increase over time as oil prices increased even though the ETN offered “no direct exposure” to spot oil prices, and recommended that retail customers “buy and hold the ETN indefinitely.”

The order also finds that Cadaret Grant “failed to adopt and implement” policies and procedures concerning the sale of exchange-traded products in investment-advisory accounts.

Besides the fines and suspensions for Grant and Johnson, the SEC charged Long, the Cadaret Grant broker who recommended the ETN to the “greatest number” of customers, for recommending the ETN “without a reasonable basis.”

The order found that Long recommended his customers continue to hold the ETN from 2015 and until spring 2016, when his customers’ holdings were sold at an average loss of more than 90 percent of the amounts they invested.

“Brokers have an obligation to understand complex products and their risks before recommending them to customers,” Daniel Michael, chief of the SEC enforcement division’s complex financial-instruments unit, said in the SEC news release. “As this action shows, we will continue to hold people accountable at every level for unsuitable recommendations that harm investors and for the failures that allow those recommendations to be made unchecked.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com