Keesal, Young & Logan attorneys Neal Robb and Erin Weesner-McKinley successfully defended J.P. Morgan Securities (JPMS) and the named Financial Advisor in a FINRA arbitration initiated by an elderly investor who claimed that he was fraudulently induced to invest in the JPMorgan Income Builder Fund based on an alleged promise that the Fund would generate a guaranteed monthly income of $4,500. The customer sought damages of $285,419, forum fees and costs. After six hearing sessions, arbitrators denied the customer’s claim and assessed more than 90% of the forum fees and costs against the customer. The arbitrators concluded that the customer’s allegations were false and therefore recommended that all references to the complaint be expunged from registered representative’s Central Registration Depository record. In reaching its decision, the panel elaborated that “the record strongly supports a finding that [the Financial Advisor] did not intentionally or negligently misrepresent facts regarding Claimant’s purchase and retention of [the Fund]. So strong is the evidence presented that this claim or allegation was not merely unproven, but is found to be false. To be sure, Claimant’s belief in the misrepresentation is doubtlessly sincere, but we find his belief to be contrary to the overwhelming evidence found in the record.”
Richard Long v. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (FINRA Case No.: 16-02678). Please click here for a copy of the award. The decision was reported in the January 9, 2018 issue of the ArbReporter from Capital Forensics, Inc.