In Florida, a financial advisor, and his firm LPL Financial, have been hit with a $53,000 judgement by an arbitrator following a failure to inform the client about serious tax implications of a trade. The genesis of the case was when the advisor had an elderly women transfer a large sum from an individual retirement account into another investment which resulted in a $9,000 tax hit. This represented nearly %20 of the total investment and, according to the arbitrator, should have been obvious to the advisor who acted callously towards the small time clients. The award was boosted by treble damages due to a finding that a Florida elder protection law was violated. LPL has indicated they will appeal the ruling.
See Megan Leonhardt, LPL to Pay Treble Damages to Elderly Client, Wealth Management, November 24, 2015.
