CFD Investments, Inc. (“CFD Investments”) (CRD# 25427) has many different complaints filed by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority), state regulatory organizations, and investors such as yourself. At the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, we have investigated CFD Investments, its regulatory and customer complaints, and have also represented investors with claims of fraud, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty against this organization and its financial advisors.
If you believe you have a claim against CFD Investments, you have legal options to recover your investment losses. Most investors who lose money due to broker misconduct at CFD Investments can pursue their claims through FINRA arbitration, a specialized legal process designed specifically for resolving securities disputes. This process allows you to hold both the individual financial advisor and the brokerage firm accountable for their negligence, fraud, or breach of fiduciary duty.
You should not wait until it’s too late to file a claim. FINRA arbitration has strict time limits, and evidence can disappear over time. The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., offers free consultations to help you understand your legal rights and determine whether you have a viable case against CFD Investments.
Can I Sue CFD Investments, Inc.?
If you’ve lost money caused by CFD Investments and/or its employees’ misconduct then the answer is, YES, you can sue CFD Investments but the odds are you signed away your right to sue in court and agreed to resolve your dispute in a FINRA arbitration proceeding. Attorney Robert Wayne Pearce has over 45 years of personal experience in FINRA arbitration proceedings and knows very well how you can not only sue CFD Investments in FINRA arbitration proceedings, but WIN that arbitration.
How to Sue CFD Investments for Investment Losses
What Can I Do If I Lost Money at CFD Investments?
If you lost money at CFD Investments, you can file a claim through FINRA arbitration to recover your losses. FINRA arbitration is a legal process specifically designed for resolving disputes between investors and brokerage firms like CFD Investments. Unlike traditional court litigation, arbitration is typically faster and less formal, but it still provides a legally binding resolution.
The key to a successful claim is connecting CFD Investments’ documented regulatory problems to your specific investment losses. For example, FINRA has sanctioned CFD Investments multiple times for failing to conduct proper due diligence on private placements, inadequate supervision of financial advisors, and unsuitable recommendations of variable annuities and ETFs. If your losses involved similar investment products or similar broker misconduct, these regulatory violations strengthen your case because they demonstrate a pattern of negligence at the firm.
Many investors worry that the arbitration agreement they signed prevents them from pursuing their claim. This is not the case. The arbitration agreement simply means you’ll resolve your dispute through FINRA’s arbitration forum rather than in court—you absolutely still have the right to seek compensation for your losses.
Who Can Help Me Sue CFD Investments?
An experienced securities attorney who specializes in FINRA arbitration can help you sue CFD Investments. These cases require someone who understands securities regulations, brokerage firm supervision obligations, and the FINRA arbitration process. An attorney will investigate your account history, gather evidence of misconduct, and build a case connecting CFD Investments’ regulatory violations to your specific losses.
The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. has extensive experience representing investors in claims against CFD Investments and similar independent broker-dealers. We understand the specific supervisory failures that plague firms like CFD Investments, including their remote supervision model, inadequate due diligence on private placements, and failure to monitor unsuitable variable annuity exchanges—all violations for which FINRA has repeatedly sanctioned the firm.
What is CFD Investments, Inc.?
CFD Investments (CRD# 25427) has been registered with the SEC and FINRA as a broker dealer since 1990. The company is controlled by the, the Owen’s family and headquartered in Kokomo, Indiana with small branch offices located throughout the United States. Its independent broker-dealer Business Model has grown through acquisition and organic development of primarily one and two person registered representative offices supervised remotely. Today there are over 150 registered representatives in every state. It is now one of the 50 largest independent broker-dealer and investment advisory firms in the United States.
Why Does CFD Investments Have So Many Bad Reviews and Customer Complaints?
CFD Investments has many bad reviews and customer complaints because of its independent broker-dealer business model, which prioritizes profit and growth over investor protection. This model uses a franchise-like structure where individual financial advisors operate as independent contractors rather than supervised employees. As a result, there is minimal oversight of day-to-day operations, account openings, and investment recommendations.
The firm relies on remote supervision through Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction (OSJs), which are themselves run by independent contractors who have their own businesses to manage. These OSJ managers cannot provide real-time oversight because they are located far away from the branch offices they supposedly supervise. This means there is no one onsite to catch fraudulent documents, unsuitable investment recommendations, or misleading sales practices before harm occurs.
Without daily review of new accounts, securities transactions, or client correspondence, investors become vulnerable to financial advisors who prioritize commissions over client interests. The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) has documented that independent broker-dealers like CFD Investments have more instances of sales abuse and investor losses than traditional full-service brokerage firms with onsite managers and compliance staff.
CFD Investments, Inc. Has Many Different Regulatory Problems
CFD Investments’ rapid growth has not been without consequences. There have been approximately 7 Federal, state and self-regulatory body disclosure events; that is, final and formal proceedings initiated by a regulatory authority (e.g., a state or federal securities agency like the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or self-regulatory body like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA)) for a violation(s) of investment-related rules or regulations. In addition, there have been scores of customer complaints filed against CFD Investments for misconduct by its securities sales and investment advisory representatives that are not reported by the firm on its Central Depository Record.
We have reported and written about these regulatory problems and customer complaints over many years. CFD Investments is a repeat offender: there are over 5 FINRA reported disciplinary proceedings citing the firm with one form of supervisory lapses or another in the last decade.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE REGULATORY PROBLEMS CFD INVESTMENTS, INC. HAS FACED OVER THE YEARS
CFD Investments has been repeatedly censured, warned, and fined for its own misconduct and failure to supervise its army of financial advisors.* A few of the notable FINRA Sanctions for its Supervisory Failures are below:
FINRA Orders CFD Investments To Pay $750,000 For Due Diligence Failures
FINRA investigated and discovered CFD Investments approved an oil and gas private placement offering for sale to its customers without adequate due diligence. The issuer, Payson Petroleum, Inc. was the subject of an jury verdict in excess of $9 million and was in financial distress. Yet, CFD Investments sold interests in Payson to 31 of its retail customers, without conducting reasonable due diligence into the Payson offering. By failing to conduct reasonable due diligence into the Payson offering, CFD Investments and Bahrenburg violated NASD Rule 3010, and FINRA Rules 3110 and 2010.
In addition, FINRA found CFD Investments sold interests in Payson to its customers without having a reasonable basis for making recommendations to purchase this private placement. CFD Investments customers who invested in Payson lost their investments when Payson filed for bankruptcy. Through this conduct, CFD Investments violated FINRA Rules 2111 and 2010.
Further, FINRA found CFD Investments also failed to disclose to its customers that it received additional compensation from Payson beyond the disclosed sales compensation. This conduct violated FINRA Rule 2010.
Accordingly, FINRA sanctioned CFD Investments by imposing a censure, a 45 day suspension of any and all private placement activities, and restitution in the amount of $750,000 to the affected customers.
FINRA Sanctioned CFD Investments For Variable Annuity Sales Abuse
In another one of FINRAs investigations, it found that CFD Investments failed to establish, maintain and enforce a supervisory system and written supervisory procedures reasonably designed to ensure that representatives’ recommendations of variable annuities complied with applicable securities laws and regulations and FINRA Rules. As a result, FINRA concluded CFD Investments violated FINRA Rules 2330(d) and (e), NASD Rule 3010, FINRA Rule 3110, and FINRA Rule 2010 for which it was censured and fined hundred and $25,000.
FINRA Sanctioned CFD Investments For ETF Sales Abuse
During the course of another FINRA sales practice investigation, the regulator found CFD Investments failed to establish, maintain, and enforce a reasonable supervisory system designed to ensure the review of its representatives’ sales of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (”Non- Traditional ETFs”), in violation of NASD Rule 3010 and FINRA Rule 2010 and imposed a censure and $30,000 fine upon the brokerage firm.
FINRA Sanctioned CFD Investments For Supervisory Failures
During the course of yet another FINRA investigation, it discovered CFD Investments failed to adequately supervise former registered representative John Haeffele, who stole approximately $409,000 from a customer’s accounts that held direct application mutual funds purchased through CFD Investments. The customer was a trust established to provide financial support for a severely disabled beneficiary (the “Trust”). FINRA found Haeffele converted the Trust’s funds by redeeming the mutual fund shares owned by the Trust and transferring the proceeds to accounts he controlled away from CFD Investments.
As a result of its investigation, FINRA believed that CFD Investments was aware of red flags relating to Haeffele that taken as a whole would have led it to investigate, and discover his conversion of Trust assets. Among other things, Haeffele served both as trustee and registered representative for the Trust, which raised a conflict of interest and allowed him to receive Trust account statements. He also began redeeming mutual fund shares held by the Trust shortly after purchase, which raised suitability concerns because it was inconsistent with the Trust’s intent in investing in mutual funds. CFD Investments failed to adequately respond to these and other red flags. As such, FINRA concluded CFD Investments failed to supervise Haeffele in violation of NASD Rules 3010(a) and 2110, and FINRA Rule 2010.
CFD Investments supervisory failures resulted, in part, from its deficient supervisory systems and written procedures for monitoring direct application mutual fund redemptions. CFD Investments had two means of reviewing such redemptions – dealer statements and transaction blotters created by representatives yet CFD Investments failed to utilize either means to review this activity. Moreover, CFD Investments lacked written procedures requiring the review of dealer statements. By failing to maintain adequate supervisory systems and procedures, CFD Investments violated NASD Rules 3010(a) and (b) and 2110, and FINRA Rule 2010.
Last, the FINRA investigation revealed CFD Investments failed to maintain daily blotters that contained all direct application mutual fund redemptions, in violation of Section 17(a) of the Exchange Act, Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4, NASD Rules 3110 and 2110, and FINRA Rule 2010. Notwithstanding, FINRA only slapped CFD Investments on its and an imposed a censure and a fine of only, $100,000.
*Above are only some of the regulatory disciplinary actions filed against CFD Investments by FINRA. There are at least 3 more SEC, FINRA, NASSA, and/or state securities regulator investigations and enforcement actions reported on BrokerCheck as regulatory disciplinary proceeding disclosures.
Did CFD Investments, Inc. Advisor Misconduct Cause You Investment Losses?
When financial advisor misconduct has caused you to lose substantial value to your investment accounts, you have the right to seek reimbursement from the responsible parties. CFD Investments is responsible like any employer for its financial advisors acts and omissions. In addition, it has an independent duty to supervise its stockbrokers and investment advisors. These cases can be extremely complex, and so having the support of a reputable attorney who is experienced in recovering investment losses for investors is key to your success. Many customers make the mistake of contacting CFD Investments without representation with an attorney about their complaints and have their complaints denied.
Consult With An Attorney Who Recovers Investment Losses Caused By CFD Investments, Inc. Today
The securities attorneys at The Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., have helped countless investors over the last 45 years recover the losses from their investment accounts that were caused by broker negligence or misconduct. The firm has extensive experience with CFD Investments cases, and Attorney Pearce is committed to seeing that those responsible for the losses you have suffered are held fully accountable.
Give us a call at 800-732-2889. Let’s discuss your case and see what we can do to help you get the compensation you need and deserve.
