Steve Allen Moise (also known as Steve Alan Moise), of Mineola, New York, a stockbroker registered with Joseph Stone Capital LLC, has been fined $5,000.00 and suspended for five months from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity because Moise engaged in excessive and unsuitable trading in a customer’s account. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent No. 2022073708202 (June 24, 2024).
On April 21, 2023, Joseph Stone Capital filed a Form U5 disclosing that a customer had filed an arbitration alleging sales practice violations by the stockbroker. According to the AWC, from February 2021 to August 2021, while associated with Joseph Stone Capital, Moise recommended a series of transactions in a customer’s account that was excessive.
The AWC stated that Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 15l-1(a)(1) requires a stockbroker, when making a recommendation of any securities transaction or investment strategy involving securities (including account recommendations) to a customer, to act in the best interest of that customer at the time the recommendation is made, without placing the financial or other interest of stockbroker ahead of the interest of the customer. The regulator noted that stockbrokers must have a reasonable basis to believe that a series of recommended transactions is not excessive and is in the customer’s best interest in light of the customer’s investment profile.
According to the AWC, the customer opened the account in 2021. Moise recommended that the customer execute 199 trades in the account over the next seven months. On several occasions, Moise recommended that the customer sell a security not long after purchasing it, causing the customer to suffer a realized loss. The transaction generated commissions for Moise.
Collectively, the trades recommended by Moise resulted in a cost-to-equity ratio exceeding 47 percent– meaning that the customer’s account would have had to grow by more than 47 percent during the period just to break even. The customer suffered realized losses and paid more than $52,000.00 in commissions and trade costs. Therefore, Moise violated FINRA Rule 2010 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 15l-1.
Moise was previously suspended on February 24, 2023, by FINRA because Moise failed to respond to the regulator’s requests for information. That suspension was lifted on May 11, 2023.
FINRA Public Disclosure also shows that on November 15, 2007, a customer filed an investment related complaint involving Moise’s conduct in which the customer requested damages based upon allegations that Moise engaged in unauthorized trading in over-the-counter equities during the period that Moise was associated with National Securities Corporation. The complaint was denied.
On January 5, 2012, another customer filed a complaint involving Moise’s conduct in which the customer requested $5,077.00 in damages based upon allegations that Moise engaged in unauthorized trading in stocks when Moise was associated with Global Arena Capital Corp. This complaint was closed without further action taken by the customer.
Moise was also referenced in a FINRA securities arbitration claim that was settled for $35,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Moise breached his fiduciary duties and engaged in excessive and unsuitable trading in over-the-counter equities when Moise was associated with Joseph Stone Capital LLC. FINRA Arbitration No. 22-00026 (March 1, 2023).
Moise was associated with Joseph Stone Capital LLC in Mineola, New York, from July 7, 2016, to October 5, 2022.
