Goodman & Nekvasil P.A, May Recover Investor Losses | Tom Puentes, Financial Advisor Suspended from Securities Industry
From 2009 until Tom Puentes’ discharge in 2014, Tom Puentes was licensed with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Tom Puentes was subsequently licensed with Kestra Investment Services, LLC. According to FINRA records Tom Puentes was discharged from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney on October 30, 2014. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney reported to FINRA that Tom Puentes was fired because of allegations relating to Tom Puentes’ use of discretionary trading without written authorization.
Subsequent to Tom Puentes’ discharge, FINRA brought a disciplinary action against Tom Puentes in 2016. Tom Puentes a 30-day suspension and a $15,000 monetary fine. FINRA reports that Tom Puentes consented to the entry of findings that Tom Puentes exercised the time and price discretion in customer accounts to purchase municipal bonds. The findings stated that, contrary to firm policy, Tom Puentes never obtained written authorization from any of the customers or the firm to exercise time and place discretion in these accounts. The findings also stated that Tom Puentes failed to disclose Tom Puentes’s use of time and price discretion to the firm when responding to its annual compliance questionnaires for the years 2010 through 2013.
FINRA reports fifteen arbitration claim/complaints alleging sales practice violations against Tom Puentes. The claims/complaints allege, among other things, unsuitability and/or unauthorized trading, with respect to municipal bonds. The claims/complaints have been settled, the highest settlement being $125,000.
If you lost any money on investments with Tom Puentes, you may be able to recover your losses from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and/or Kestra Investment Services, LLC. This is because Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Kestra Investment Services, LLC had a duty to supervise Tom Puentes.
If you lost money on investments with Tom Puentes and believe that the investments may have been unsuitable or otherwise improper for you, we would like to discuss the possibility of your retaining our firm to represent you in an arbitration action against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and/or Kestra Investment Services, LLC, concerning Tom Puentes’ conduct. There is no charge for an evaluation of your case. Further, we handle our cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that unless we recover money for you, we charge no attorney’s fee. Unless you recover any money, you pay us nothing, not even the costs and expenses which the firm will advance on your behalf.
Goodman & Nekvasil, P.A. has recovered more than $180 million on behalf of victimized investors. If you lost money on any investments with Tom Puentes and would like your case evaluated by a securities attorney (again, there is no charge for an evaluation and all cases are handled on a purely contingency fee basis), please contact us.