John James Forster, of Washington, DC, a stockbroker associated with Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner Smith Incorporated, was the subject of a customer initiated investment related Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) securities arbitration claim in which the customer requested $272,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Forster failed to act in the customer’s best interest and made an unsuitable recommendation of a variable annuity. FINRA Arbitration No. 23-01716 (June 12, 2023).
FINRA Public Disclosure shows that Forster was referenced in five other customer initiated investment related disputes concerning Forster’s conduct while associated with securities broker dealers. On January 29, 2001, a customer filed an investment related complaint involving Forster’s conduct alleging that Forster sold securities without the customer’s knowledge or consent when Forster was associated with Salomon Smith Barney Inc. This complaint was denied.
Forster is also referenced in a customer initiated investment related FINRA securities arbitration claim that was settled for $750,000.00 in damages. The allegations were that Forster mismanaged the customer’s account by improperly implementing a margin balance from June of 1996 through March of 2009. The customer also argued that Forster maintained an unsuitable allocation of stocks in her account when Forster was associated with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. FINRA Arbitration No. 09-06992 (February 23, 2011).
On September 14, 2012, a customer initiated investment related complaint involving Forster’s conduct alleged that Forster caused the customer to lose money in their account when Forster was associated with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. This complaint was also denied.
Forster was also referenced in a separate customer initiated investment related complaint filed on March 22, 2018. In this case, the customer alleged that Forster conducted unauthorized fund transfers while Forster was associated with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB). The case was ultimately denied on April 13, 2018.
Forster has been associated with Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner Smith Incorporated in Washington, District of Columbia since October 22, 2012. He was associated with Morgan Stanley in Washington, District of Columbia, from June 1, 2009, to November 6, 2012.
