Jeffrey Alan Fladell of Florham Park New Jersey a stockbroker formerly registered with RBC Capital Markets LLC has been fined $5,000.00 and suspended for three months from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity supported by findings that Fladell provided unsuitable investment recommendations to an RBC Capital Markets customer. Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent No. 2017054432701 (Mar. 25, 2021).
According to the AWC, when Fladell was registered with RBC Capital Markets, a one-hundred-year-old customer served as trustee of two trust accounts that Fladell recommended investments for. The first trust account was established for the customer’s benefit. The second one was intended to benefit the customer’s sister-in-law who was also an elderly individual.
The regulator mentioned that the trust accounts had been designed for conservative investing as the trusts’ objective was to invest with low risk exposure. The AWC stated that Fladell recommended on a repeated basis that the customer purchase risky municipal bonds even though the municipal bond market experienced volatility during this period. The stockbroker caused 86 percent of the customer’s trust account to be invested in high-risk municipal bonds. He caused the customer’s sister-in-law to invest the entirety of their account in those investments.
FINRA determined that Fladell’s advice was incompatible with the trust accounts’ investment profile. Fladell violated Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Rule G-19 for this reason.
FINRA Public Disclosure confirms that Fladell has been identified in ten customer initiated investment related disputes involving accusations of his violative actions at securities broker dealers including RBC Capital Markets. On August 15, 2017, a customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim concerning Fladell’s conduct was settled for $1,400,000.00 in damages founded on allegations of unsuitable and misrepresented Puerto Rico bonds being sold to the customer by Fladell. FINRA Arbitration No. 15-03154.
Fladell is also the subject of a customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim which was settled for $295,000.00 in damages on August 19, 2017 supported by accusations of unsuitable recommendations by the stockbroker as it pertained to the customer’s municipal debt holdings at RBC Capital Markets LLC. FINRA Arbitration No. 16-00957.
On May 16, 2018, another customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim involving Fladell’s conduct was settled for $115,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that misrepresentations had been made by Fladell regarding the customer’s investments in Puerto Rico bonds while he was registered with RBC Capital Markets. FINRA Arbitration No. 17-01476.
Fladell is additionally the subject of a customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim that was settled for $750,000.00 in damages supported by accusations that Fladell provided the customer with bad advice in regard to municipal bonds that the customer purchased and held between April of 2010 and November of 2017. FINRA Arbitration No. 17-03048 (Feb. 1, 2019).
On January 8, 2020, another customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim concerning Fladell’s conduct was settled for $445,000.00 in damages founded on allegations that Fladell caused the customer to be overconcentrated in Puerto Rico bonds at RBC Capital Markets.
Fladell was registered with RBC Capital Markets between October 9, 2009 and December 31, 2017.
