/EIN News/ — NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Securities Arbitration Law Firm of Klayman & Toskes, P.A., www.nasd-law.com, announces investigation of MetLife Securities Inc. (“MetLife”) misconduct in light of $20 million in fines and $5 million in restitution imposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), for violations related to variable annuity replacement transactions. According to the Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, (FINRA No. 2014040870001), the fines and restitutions were due to FINRA’s findings that MetLife had made “negligent material misrepresentations and omissions on variable annuity (“VA”) replacement applications for tens of thousands of customers.”
FINRA commented that these misrepresentations “made the replacement [variable annuity] appear more beneficial to the customer, even though the recommended VAs were typically more expensive than customers’ existing VAs.” In addition, FINRA reported that during the time period of 2009-2014, MetLife made material misrepresentations and omissions in 72% of the 35,500 replacement applications the firm approved for variable annuities, examples of which included but were not limited to:
According to securities attorney Lawrence L. Klayman, “Our investigation is focused on MetLife sales practices that resulted in the replacement of existing variable annuities which led to a significant loss of benefits due to the reliance upon misrepresentations, conflicts of interest and a failure to supervise.” K&T’s investigation is related to investments in MetLife variable annuities, including:
Current and former customers of MetLife who have information relating to the manner in which MetLife represented these financial products are encouraged to contact Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq. or Raymond Gentile, Esq. of Klayman & Toskes at (888) 997-9956, or visit our website at www.nasd-law.com.
About Klayman & Toskes, P.A.
K&T is a leading national securities law firm which practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration and litigation, on behalf of retail and institutional investors throughout the world in large and complex securities matters. The firm represents high net-worth, ultra-high-net-worth, and institutional investors, such as non-profit organizations, unions, public and multi-employer pension funds. K&T has office locations in California, Florida, New York and Puerto Rico.
Contacts
Klayman & Toskes, P.A.
Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq.
Raymond Gentile, Esq.
(888)-997-9956
www.nasd-law.com