Scott Reed was registered Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC (2016-2020) and with First Financial Equity Corporation (2020 to present) in Scottsdale, AZ. According to the Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA) BrokerCheck (as of May 2020), Mr. Reed has been the subject of 4 disclosures:
- In 2010, a customer dispute disclosure alleges a terrible recommendation. That matter was denied.
- In 2017, a customer dispute alleged Mr. Reed recommended unsuitable investments and failed to diversify a retirement portfolio. This matter remains pending.
- In March 2020, a customer dispute alleges a recommendation by Mr. Reed related to an investment not offered by Wells Fargo. The matter was closed – no action.
- In April 2020, an employment separation after allegations reflect Mr. Reed voluntarily resigned from Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC after allegations that Mr. Reed recommended investments that were “sold away” from and not offered by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC.
The sole purpose of this notice is to investigate the potential sales practice and supervision issues related to any investment sold away by Scott Reed while under the control, supervision, and subject to compliance policies and procedures of Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. If you have personal knowledge or experience relating to those issues, please contact our office at 1-800-856-3352.
What is “Selling Away”?
Selling away is when a financial advisor recommends the purchase of an investment not held, approved, or offered by the brokerage firm. Without that approval process, the investments have not been subject to due diligence review or screening process. Investments sold away from the firm run the risk of selling investments with little or no due diligence, and generally outside and away from the brokerage firm’s control, supervision or compliance efforts.
Financial advisors have a legal and regulatory obligation to recommend only suitable investments that are appropriate for their individual clients. Their supervising FINRA-registered brokerage firm has a legal and regulatory obligation to supervise the investment-related activities of its financial advisor including investment sales practices. To the extent that any of these duties are breached, the customer may be entitled to a recovery of his or her investment losses.
About Haselkorn & Thibaut, P.A.
Haselkorn and Thibaut, P.A. is a nationwide law firm specializing in handling investment fraud and securities arbitration cases. The law firm has offices in Palm Beach, Florida, on Park Avenue in New York, as well as Phoenix, Arizona, Houston, Texas, and Cary, North Carolina. The two founding partners have over 45 years of legal experience.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding your investment accounts, you should contact experienced attorneys who might be able to assist you. Our office offers to do so at no charge. If problems are discovered, at least one option for some investors includes a Financial Regulatory Authority (FINRA) customer arbitration dispute. The customer dispute process at FINRA is private, and quicker and more efficient than litigation. In addition, there are typically no depositions, as it is almost entirely paper-based discovery. You should contact experienced attorneys who might be able to assist you with these types of disputes.
Haselkorn & Thibaut, P.A. has filed numerous (private arbitration) customer disputes with FINRA for customers who suffered investment losses relating to issues similar to those matters mentioned above. There are typically no depositions involved, and those cases are typically handled on contingency with no recovery, no fee terms.
Experienced attorneys at Haselkorn & Thibaut, P.A. are available for a free consultation as a public service. Call today for more information at 1-800-856-3352.
