National investment loss lawyers KlaymanToskes reports that the firm is investigating Webull Financial, LLC on the behalf of customers who suffered investment losses following the firm’s censure for options-related trading in customer accounts.
Webull Financial was recently censured by FINRA (“Financial Industry Regulatory Authority”) and fined $3,000,000 in connection with the firm’s failure to supervise and exercise due diligence regarding options trading in customer accounts.
Investors who sustained losses in excess of $100,000 are encouraged to contact attorney Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq. for free and confidential consultation at (888) 997-9956 or lklayman@klaymantoskes.com to discuss our investigation and recovery options. We do not collect attorney’s fees unless we are able to obtain a financial recovery for you.
Disclosure: Investors that did not sustain losses in excess of $100,000 are not eligible for our legal services.
The Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) alleges that from May 2018 to December 2021, Webull Financial’s system for identifying and responding to customer complaints was “not reasonably designed to identify and respond to the volume of customer complaints received.”
For example, despite receiving over 500,000 written complaints in 2020, the firm allegedly only reported a total of 69 complaints for the year. In the month of December 2020, only 15 customer communications were escalated for review out of the 88,000 received.
As stated by the AWC, Webull Financial’s automated system for approving customers for options trading allegedly disregarded customer information previously provided to the firm and solely considered information provided by the customer in their most recent options suitability questionnaire.
The Department cites an instance where Webull approved “more than 2,500 customers under the age of 21 to trade options spreads,” despite the firm’s requirement that customers seeking approval for options trading have at least three years of options trading experience, which they did not have before being approved.
The Department’s investigation revealed that between December 2019 and at least July 2021, the firm’s supervisory system was not reasonably designed to achieve compliance with FINRA Rule 2360(b)(16) (Options).
The AWC also claims that errors in the programming of the automated system resulted in approvals for more than 9,000 accounts for level 1 options trading authority that did not meet the firm’s eligibility criteria.
Customers of Webull who did not have sufficient options experience and sustained losses in excess of $100,000 are encouraged to contact attorney Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq. for a free consultation at (888) 997-9956 or lklayman@klaymantoskes.com to discuss recovery options. 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.
KlaymanToskes, P.A.
Lawrence L. Klayman, Esq.
888-997-9956
lklayman@klaymantoskes.com
www.klaymantoskes.com