National investment fraud lawyers KlaymanToskes alerts customers of Dave Nicolas (CRD# 5176405) and Daniel Joseph Mackle Sr. (CRD# 2239531) that the pair have been barred by the SEC for illegally selling shares of pre-IPO companies, including Silver Edge Pre-IPO Fund and the Silver Edge Venture Fund, through Silver Edge Financial LLC. They can no longer act as brokers or investment advisors, or otherwise associate with firms that sell securities, in connection with findings that they raised $65 million from investors through unregistered broker-dealer activity.
Investors who suffered losses with Dave Nicolas or Daniel J. Mackle and had accounts at San Blas Securities, MD Global Partners, or Garden State Securities, Inc. may hold their brokerage firm liable in claims of selling away – a securities violation.
Contact attorney Lawrence L. Klayman at (888) 997-9956 or lklayman@klaymantoskes.com for a free and confidential consultation to discuss recovery options. We do not collect attorney’s fees unless we are able to obtain a financial recovery for you.
On March 3rd, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a cease-and-desist order naming Daniel J. Mackle Sr. and Silver Edge Financial, LLC in connection with the sale of unregistered securities and a second cease-and-desist order naming Dave Nicolas for similar misconduct and securities violations. According to the SEC, Daniel J. Mackle Sr. has been permanently barred from the securities industry, with the right to reapply to the SEC in five years, and has been ordered to pay $2,251,139.92 in disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and $975,000 in penalties/fines. Dave Nicolas has been permanently barred from the securities industry, with the right to reapply to the SEC in two years, and has been ordered to pay $70,000 in penalties/fines.
The SEC alleges that its proceedings arose out of Mackle and Nicolas’ effort to solicit investors on behalf of Silver Edge Financial LLC (“Silver Edge”), an unregistered pooled investment vehicle. Silver Edge formed two funds to invest in pre-IPO securities, known as the Silver Edge Pre-IPO Fund LLC and the Silver Edge Venture Fund LLC.
According to the SEC, Silver Edge sold over $65 million worth of pre-IPO series interests to investors through a sales force of unregistered brokers, including Nicolas and Mackle, despite never having been registered with the Commission. The investments sold were also unregistered securities. Silver Edge allegedly received a 4% management fee, in addition to a 3% administrative fee and 10% placement agent fee, based on the amount of securities sold. Mackle took the 4% management fee as his compensation.
The order filed against Silver Edge’s CEO Daniel Joseph Mackle Sr. states “Mackle founded Silver Edge and supervised all aspects of Silver Edge’s operations, including establishing the Silver Edge Funds; acquiring pre-IPO shares, hiring a team of sales representatives, providing them with information about the pre-IPO shares held by the Funds and the names of accredited investors for them to contact; and overseeing distribution of the shares to investors when a liquidity event occurred.”
The order filed against Dave Nicolas states the broker “solicited investment[s] in at least eight pre-IPO series offerings of the Silver Edge Funds” by cold-calling off of a list of accredited investors given to him by Silver Edge’s CEO Daniel Joseph Mackle Sr. The order further alleges Nicolas engaged in the offering and selling of Silver Edge without the knowledge or supervision of the firms he was registered with.
According to the SEC’s findings, both Mackle and Nicolas violated Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act, which prohibits any broker or dealer from “making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, to effect any transaction in, or induce or attempt to induce the purchase or sale of, any security unless the broker or dealer is registered in accordance with Section 15(b) of the Exchange Act or is a natural person who is associated with a registered broker or dealer.”
Selling away is considered any activity where a financial advisor is engaged in “private securities transactions” with investors concerning securities that have not been approved by their brokerage firm and there is an expectation that the advisor will be paid.
Brokerage firms are responsible for all of their financial advisors’ business activities whether disclosed or not and are required to take affirmative action to monitor and uncover any unapproved outside business activities, including activities related to private securities transactions. Many brokerage firms audit their financial advisors’ personal and business bank accounts to determine all sources of income which may relate to outside business activities and private securities transactions. Brokerage firms conduct these audits because of the responsibilities they have to supervise the activities of financial advisors registered with the firm.
KlaymanToskes believes that if the registered brokerage firms employing Daniel Mackle and Dave Nicolas between 2019-2020 had properly and thoroughly audited their advisors, the activity could have been detected much sooner.
Most brokerage firms terminate licensed financial advisors who “sell away” from the brokerage firm, securities that are not approved. This is because of the potential liability brokerage firms face as documented by a long history of adverse FINRA arbitration awards for member firms, as a result of this failure to supervise.
In this case, Mackle and Nicolas were selling away while they were registered with FINRA regulated brokerage firms between 2019 and 2020. This leaves the brokerage firms liable for losses suffered by investors while the former brokers were under their supervision.
According to FINRA BrokerCheck, Dave Nicolas was previously registered with San Blas Securities from September to December 2020 in Long Island City, NY and with MD Global Partners from 2019 to 2020 in Hackensack, NJ. Nicolas was also registered with Garden State Securities, Inc. from 2008 to 2019 in Hackensack, NJ.
As reported by FINRA BrokerCheck, Daniel Joseph Mackle Sr. was previously registered with MD Global Partners from 2019 to 2020 and with Garden State Securities, Inc. from 2008 to 2019 in Hackensack, NJ.
Customers of Daniel Mackle or Dave Nicolas that suffered losses between 2019-2020 may be entitled to a recovery through a FINRA arbitration claim.
KlaymanToskes believes FINRA arbitration is typically the best course of action for investors that suffered significant losses at the hands of their full-service brokerage firms and brokers/financial advisors. FINRA arbitration is a more cost-effective process for investors, often occurring with increased speed and efficiency over a court proceeding, allowing investors to maintain greater flexibility over their case.
Former customers of Daniel J. Mackle Sr. and Dave Nicolas who have experienced significant investment losses between 2019-2020 are encouraged to contact securities attorney Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq. at 1-888-997-9956 or lklayman@klaymantoskes.com for a free and confidential consultation.
Our firm offers legal services on a contingency fee basis, meaning we do not collect attorney’s fees unless we are able to obtain a financial recovery for you.
KlaymanToskes is a leading national securities law firm which practices exclusively in the field of securities arbitration on behalf of retail and institutional investors throughout the world in large and complex securities matters. The firm has recovered over $250 million in FINRA arbitrations and over $350 million in other securities litigation matters. KlaymanToskes has office locations in California, Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico.
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KlaymanToskes, P.A.
Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq.
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lklayman@klaymantoskes.com
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