Murat Kartal of New York, New York, a stockbroker registered with Spartan Capital Securities LLC, has been suspended for ten months by FINRA because Kartal engaged in excessive trading or churning during the time that he was associated with Spartan Capital Securities Inc. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent No. 2018056490306 (July 17, 2023).
Between August 2017 and August 2018, Kartal engaged in excessive trading in an elderly customer’s account. The regulator indicated that he caused an exceptionally high number of transactions, large costs compared to the account’s value, and substantial financial loss.
Specifically, Kartal made 150 trades in this account, leading to a cost-to-equity ratio of 197 percent and turnover rate of 49.36. The trading activities led to a total cost of $206,667.00, which includes $189,446.00 in commissions, and resulted in a loss of $51,959.00.
The customer usually went along with Kartal’s advice to trade frequently. Because of this, Kartal effectively had full control of the customer’s account. The level of trading Kartal was doing was far too much according to the regulator, given the customer’s investment goals and age.
As a result of these activities, Kartal violated FINRA Rules 2010 and 2111(a).
Kartal was registered with Spartan Capital Securities LLC as a stockbroker from February 7, 2017, to December 22, 2022.
