Did you lose money investing with Gregory McCloskey (CRD# 2820510)?
Galvin Legal, PLLC is launching an investigation on behalf of investors who may have suffered losses investing with Gregory McCloskey. If you suffered losses investing with Gregory McCloskey, then Galvin Legal, PLLC may be able to help you recover your losses in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA“) arbitration claim.
If you suffered losses and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
As of February 24, 2023, Gregory McCloskey’s FINRA BrokerCheck Report contains the following:
BARRED: FINRA has barred this individual from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with a broker-dealer firm.
Disclosure Events
3 Customer Disputes
2 Regulatory Events
2 Employment Separation After Allegations
April 7, 2021 – An Order Accepting Offer of Settlement was issued in which McCloskey was barred from association with any FINRA member in all capacities. Without admitting or denying the allegations, McCloskey consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he participated in undisclosed private securities transactions involving an elderly customer, who was a retired widow, and then sought to conceal these transactions from his member firms and FINRA. The findings stated that McCloskey solicited the customer to purchase $20,000 in shares of stock of a technology company that purportedly developed a wireless network system to control lighting for energy conservation. When McCloskey left his firm and joined a new firm, the customer followed him. The customer’s investment in the company eventually surfaced because she sent a written complaint about her investment to McCloskey at his new firm business address. The customer’s complaint prompted McCloskey to participate in a second private securities transaction. To appease the customer and further attempt to conceal his misconduct, McCloskey arranged to have his sister purchase her investment in the company’s stock. McCloskey failed to timely disclose the written customer complaint and as a result, the new firm was unable to timely report the complaint to FINRA. The findings also stated that McCloskey provided false information and false on-the-record testimony to FINRA. In connection with an investigation that led to a previous AWC for McCloskey, FINRA requested that McCloskey provide a list of all customers of his previous firm who invested in the company, whether or not he participated in the purchase. McCloskey failed to identify the elderly customer as one of those customers. During subsequent on-the-record testimony to FINRA, McCloskey again omitted the same customer. The findings also included that McCloskey attempted to obstruct FINRA’s investigation by urging the customer to create and sign a false written statement indicating that he did not participate in any manner in her investment in the company’s stock. In exchange, McCloskey offered to let the customer keep the $20,000 she received from his sister in the second private securities transaction, and to also keep her shares of stock in the company. The customer refused to agree to McCloskey’s proposal. McCloskey hid his participation in the customer’s private securities transactions in the company from both of his firms by using an unapproved email account to communicate with the customer about her investment. By using this unapproved email account, McCloskey precluded his firms from reviewing and preserving the communications McCloskey had with the customer and from complying with the firms’ books and records obligations. McCloskey also concealed his misconduct by providing false information to one of his firms on an annual compliance questionnaire and to FINRA on a personal activity questionnaire. (FINRA Case #2018059242801)
Current and Previous Registrations
07/18/2016 – 11/05/2019 WESTPARK CAPITAL, INC. (CRD#:39914) Newport Beach, CA
12/21/2007 – 07/20/2016 NEWPORT COAST SECURITIES, INC. (CRD#:16944) IRVINE, CA
FINRA expelled the firm on 06/25/2018
07/19/2007 – 01/15/2008 NATIONAL SECURITIES CORPORATION (CRD#:7569) NEWPORT BEACH, CA
06/26/2007 – 07/02/2007 WEDBUSH MORGAN SECURITIES INC. (CRD#:877) LOS ANGELES, CA
04/11/2006 – 06/27/2007 BROOKSTREET SECURITIES CORPORATION (CRD#:14667) NEWPORT BEACH, CA
10/21/2003 – 04/06/2006 JEFFERSON PILOT SECURITIES CORPORATION (CRD#:3870) FORT WAYNE, IN
02/24/2000 – 08/13/2003 SII INVESTMENTS, INC. (CRD#:2225) APPLETON, WI
12/15/1998 – 12/22/1999 DEAN WITTER REYNOLDS INC. (CRD#:7556) PURCHASE, NY
04/27/1998 – 10/26/1998 CENTAURUS FINANCIAL, INC. (CRD#:30833) ANAHEIM, CA
02/12/1997 – 10/14/1997 CENTAURUS FINANCIAL, INC. (CRD#:30833) ANAHEIM, CA
If you suffered losses and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
Due Diligence Requirement
FINRA requires broker’s to conduct due diligence on investments and to conduct a suitability analysis when recommending securities to a customer that takes into account the customer’s knowledge and experience. FINRA Rule 2111(a) states that “a member or an associated person must have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended transaction or investment strategy involving a security or securities is suitable for the customer, based on the information obtained through the reasonable diligence of the member or associated person to ascertain the customer’s investment profile. A customer’s investment profile includes, but is not limited to, the customer’s age, other investments, financial situation and needs, tax status, investment objectives, investment experience, investment time horizon, liquidity needs, risk tolerance, and any other information the customer may disclose to the member or associated person in connection with such recommendation.”
Rule 2111 is composed of three main obligations: reasonable-basis suitability, customer-specific suitability, and quantitative suitability. Brokers and the brokerage firms they work for that fail to conduct adequate due diligence on investments they recommend or that make unsuitable recommendations can be held responsible for the customer’s losses in a FINRA arbitration claim.
If you suffered losses and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
Request a Free Consultation with a Securities Attorney
If you suffered losses investing with Gregory McCloskey and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
This information is all publicly available and is being provided to you by Galvin Legal, PLLC.
Galvin Legal, PLLC is a national securities arbitration, securities mediation, securities litigation, securities fraud, securities regulation and compliance, and investor protection law practice. For more information on Galvin Legal, PLLC and its representation of investors, please visit www.galvinlegal.com or call 1-800-405-5117.
