Fifth Third Securities - Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce

Oct 23, 2015

12 More Independent Broker Dealers Fined by FINRA for Failing to Give UIT Discounts to Investors

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) fined a dozen independent broker-dealers (IBDs) for failing to give their clients the proper discounts available to them, known as breakpoint discounts, on sales of unit investment trusts (UITs). They were also cited for related supervisory failures. Some of the biggest fines were levied against First Allied Securities Inc. (First Allied), Fifth Third Securities Inc. (Fifth Third), Securities America Inc. (Securities America), Cetera Advisors LLC (Cetera Advisors), and Park Avenue Securities LLC (Park Avenue). FINRA ordered the 12 firms to pay both fines and restitution totaling $6.7 million. The other firms sanctioned were: Commonwealth Financial Network (Commonwealth Financial), MetLife Securities Inc. (MetLife), Comerica Securities (Comerica), Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Ameritas Investment Corp. (Ameritas), Infinex Investments Inc. (Infinex), and The Huntington Investment Company (Huntington Investment).

May 15, 2015

Former Fifth Third Securities Broker Permanently Barred For Misappropriating Investor Funds

Former Fifth Third Securities, Inc. (Fifth Third Securities) broker Steven Dunkelberg submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he consented to, but did not admit to or deny, the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA) findings that he misappropriated $4,970.08 of a customer’s bank account without the customer’s knowledge or consent. According to FINRA, Steven James Dunkelberg Jr., of Grand Rapids, Michigan, forged his customer’s name on five different occasions on bank account withdrawal slips. Mr. Dunkelberg allegedly made the withdrawals from his customer’s Fifth Third Securities account without the customer’s knowledge or consent. FINRA found that Mr. Dunkelberg misappropriated $4,970.08 from the customer’s account. Consequently, Steven Dunkelberg was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity.