Bryan Gabriel Mazliach of Fort Lauderdale Florida a stockbroker formerly employed by Laidlaw Company has been charged by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) with effecting excessive and unauthorized transactions in customer accounts and with placing customers in unsuitable investments which caused them to sustain losses. Department of Enforcement v. Bryan G. Mazliach Disciplinary Proceeding No. 2016051583101 (Sept. 8, 2020).
According to the Complaint, between February of 2015 and July of 2017, during the period in which Mazliach was associated with Laidlaw Company, he gave bad advice to his customers which resulted in excessive and unsuitable trades in their investment accounts. The Complaint alleges that five customers were steered by Mazliach towards entering into an expensive trading strategy involving in-and-out trades.
Four Hundred Fifty trades had allegedly been effected by Mazliach between 2015 and 2017. The regulator contends that most of those trades were made by Mazliach without the knowledge and consent of those customers. Mazliach allegedly caused customers to experience annualized turnover rates that ranged from 12 to 50. The Complaint indicates that cost-to-equity ratios ranged between 37% and 218% because of the stockbroker’s actions. These turnover rates and cost-to-equity ratios purportedly show that trades were excessive and quantitatively unsuitable for customers in light of their investment profiles.
The regulator also contends that Mazliach did not have an adequate foundation to conclude that his advice was appropriate for any investor. The Complaint indicates that insufficient due diligence was performed by the stockbroker which precluded him from comprehending the risks relating to his recommended investment strategy. Mazliach was allegedly ignorant of how the costs of in-and-out trades would impact the ability of those accounts to be profitable. The Complaint alleges that costs were not even tracked or calculated by the stockbroker. He did not take into account how fees or commissions might hamper the customers’ chances at making a profit.
The Complaint alleges that ten of the investment accounts contained a total of 420 unauthorized trades by Mazliach. In seven of those accounts, FINRA alleges that trades were excessive. The regulator contends that the investment strategy recommended by Mazliach led customers to sustain $170,000.00 in losses even though Mazliach and Laidlaw generated $187,000.00 in commissions and fees. Mazliach allegedly violated FINRA Rules 2010 and 2111 for his unsuitable and unauthorized trading.
FINRA also indicates that Mazliach failed to cooperate with its staff during the time that Mazliach was being investigated for the suitability of his trades. Mazliach was purportedly instructed by the regulator to hand over information and documents. He failed to comply with those requests. FINRA alleges that its June and July 2020 requests were not answered in violation of Rules 2010 and 8210.
FINRA Public Disclosure confirms that Mazliach has been identified in three customer initiated investment related disputes containing allegations of his misconduct while employed by Laidlaw Company. Mazliach is the subject of a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim that was resolved for $32,143.87 in damages based upon accusations of Mazliach’s excessive trading of equities in the customer’s Laidlaw Company account which led the customer to experience unwarranted losses. FINRA Arbitration No. 16-00291 (May 10, 2017).
On November 21, 2018, another customer initiated investment related arbitration claim involving Mazliach’s activities was settled for $7,500.00 in damages founded on allegations that between 2015 and 2017, the customer’s account had been churned by the stockbroker. According to the claim, trades were executed in the customer’s account on an unsuitable and unauthorized basis by Mazliach during the period in which Mazliach was associated with Laidlaw Company.
Mazliach is also referenced in a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim that was resolved for $25,000.00 in damages supported by accusations that excessive and unauthorized trades were initiated in the customer’s account by Mazliach resulting in losses to the customer. FINRA Arbitration No. 20-00110 (Apr. 17, 2020).
