Former Dawson James Broker Suspended for Unsuitable Investment Recommendations
Kevin Barbalace, a former registered representative with Dawson James Securities, Inc. (Dawson James) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) in which he was suspended and assessed a deferred fine of $5,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for making unsuitable investment recommendations which resulted in more than $7,000 in net losses to his customer. According to FINRA, Kevin Lawrence Barbalace, of Baltimore, Maryland, recommended and made 46 trades in his customer’s IRA account and 8 trades in the same customer’s regular account which resulted in an excessive concentration of low-priced stocks which were highly volatile and unsuitable for his customer in light of the customer’s financial needs and risk tolerance. FINRA stated that one of the securities transactions made by Mr. Barbalace lost more than half its value in one month, and another lost nearly 80% of its value in less than two months. When Mr. Barbalace’s customer transferred the accounts from Dawson James, a loss of more than $7,000 was incurred as a result of the unsuitable recommendations and trades made by Mr. Barbalace.
Continue Reading