Omer Ozeren of Los Angeles California is a stockbroker formerly employed by Ace Diversified Capital Inc. who has been fined $10,000.00 and suspended for three months from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity by consenting to findings that he made unsuitable investment recommendations to customers regarding non-traditional exchange traded funds and placed unauthorized trades in customer accounts. Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent No. 2016049183301 (Mar. 9, 2018).
According to the AWC, between August of 2013 and August of 2015, six hundred six transactions were effected by Ozeren in customer accounts on a discretionary basis. Evidently, customers never provided written approval for Ozeren to effect transactions in their accounts using discretion, and the firm never approved those customers’ accounts for purposes of Ozeren’s discretionary trading. The AWC revealed that some of Ozeren’s transactions included options, which necessitated an options principal or securities sales supervisor to approve of Ozeren’s activities before he placed the transactions. Consequently, FINRA concluded that Ozeren’s conduct was violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and 2360(b)(18) as well as National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Rules 2860(b)(18) and 2510(b).
The AWC additionally revealed that between December of 2013 and August of 2015, a total of seventy-two non-traditional exchange traded fund transactions had been recommended by Ozeren in three accounts owned by the firm’s customers; however, Ozeren failed to comprehend the features and risks of those investments. Apparently, the prospectuses for those investments indicated that the non-traditional exchange traded funds were not meant for investors with long-term investment horizons; but rather, intended for investors with short-term trading objectives. The AWC stated that Ozeren recommended that customers hold inverse and inverse leveraged fund positions for as much as two months, causing customers to sustain $9,388.00 in investment losses. As a result, FINRA found that Ozeren’s conduct was violative of FINRA Rule 2010 and 2111.
FINRA Public Disclosure reveals that on December 6, 2016, a customer initiated investment related written complaint that concerned Ozeren’s conduct was settled for $24,000.00 in damages founded on accusations that margin was improperly utilized in the customer’s account to effect stock transactions. FINRA Arbitration No. 16-02643 (Dec. 6, 2016).
Ozeren’s employment with Ace Diversified Capital, Inc. was terminated on May 12, 2016.
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