Anthony Joseph Graziano of New York, New York, a stockbroker currently registered with Joseph Stone Capital, has been fined $5,000.00 and suspended for three months from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any principal capacity because he failed to supervise stockbrokers who executed excessive transactions in Joseph Stone customer accounts. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent No. 2020066887201 (December 8, 2021).
According to the AWC, from August 2019 to June 2020, while associated with Joseph Stone Capital, Graziano failed to reasonably supervise a registered representative at the firm who made excessively transactions a customer’s account.
Specifically, from August 2019 to June 2020, Graziano was a principal tasked with supervising registered representatives at Joseph Stone. His responsibilities included reviewing daily trade blotters, determining if sales practice violations had occurred, and enforcing restrictions relating to commissions. While Graziano reviewed the daily trade blotters, he neglected to identify red flags which indicated that a representative had been excessively trading in a 78-year-old customer’s account.
Graziano was informed by another principal that the customer’s account exceeded benchmarks for excessive trading. Despite this information, Graziano failed to take steps to investigate if any sales violations had occurred. Graziano also failed to enforce commission restrictions placed on a customer’s account between September 2019 and January 2020. The customer was ultimately charged $4,000.00 in commissions after the restriction was supposed to take effect. As a result, Graziano violated FINRA Rules 2010 and 3110.
Public Disclosure shows that Graziano is referenced in three total customer initiated investment related disputes concerning his conduct while associated with securities broker dealers, including GunnAllen Financial and American Capital Partners LLC. On April 7, 2006, a customer initiated investment related complaint involving Graziano’s conduct was settled for $9,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Graziano made unsuitable recommendations, churned the customer’s account, and charged excessive commissions in connection with the recommendation and sale of over-the-counter equities when Graziano was associated with GunnAllen Financial.
Graziano is also the subject of a customer initiated investment related complaint on March 7, 2008, in which the customer requested $8,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Graziano charged excessive markups with regard to the recommendation and sale of over-the-counter equities when Graziano was associated with American Capital Partners LLC.
Graziano has been associated with Joseph Stone Capital since 2015. In 2013, he was associated with National Securities Corp. From 2011 to 2012, he was associated with Brookstone Securities. Seven of the eight firms with which Graziano has been associated have been expelled by regulators or are otherwise defunct.
