Erez Law is investigating claims regarding Paul Gerard Chiampa (CRD #1133609, East Longmeadow, Massachusetts). Chiampa recently entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”) in which he was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 30 business days. See FINRA Case #2012034926401. Chiampa has been registered with Raymond James & Associates, Inc., since November 2012, and previously was registered with Morgan Stanley (June 2009 – November 2012) and Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. (July 1993 – June 2009).
During its investigation, FINRA found that in five customer accounts at two member firms, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, Chiampa effected more than 250 transactions utilizing discretion without the customer’s prior written authorization and acceptance of the account as discretionary. FINRA also found that Chiampa effected these transactions in separate account that he had established for each of the five customers for the specific purposes of participating in syndicate offerings and initial public offerings at the firms, and that the customers were aware of this strategy. FINRA further found that on annual compliance questionnaires for one of the firms, Chiampa falsely represented that he did not have any accounts over which he exercised discretionary control. In entering into the AWC, Chiampa neither admitted nor denied FINRA’s findings.
Pursuant to FINRA Rules, member firms are responsible for supervising a broker’s activities during the time the broker is registered with the firm. Therefore, Raymond James, Morgan Stanley, or Citigroup may be liable for investment or other losses suffered by Chiampa’s customers.
If you were a client of Chiampa, Raymond James, Morgan Stanley, or Citigroup, and have suffered investment losses or financial irregularities, please contact Erez Law to explore your legal options. Erez Law is a nationally recognized law firm representing individuals, trusts, corporations and institutions in claims against brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies. To learn more, please call us at 888-840-1571 or complete our “contact form.”
"*" indicates required fields
