Trevor Rahn

Former J.P. Morgan Securities registered representative recently submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Department of Enforcement to resolve allegations of violating securities industry rules.

Rahn’s FINRA BrokerCheck report reveals that he was associated with J.P. Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, California from July 2010 to September 2018. He was discharged from the firm on allegations of “unacceptable practices…relating to the timing and size of orders entered and resulting in transaction charges in a client account and relating to the marking of certain orders for the account as unsolicited.” Shortly after his departure from J.P. Morgan Securities, FINRA Department of Enforcement began investigating these allegations.

According to the AWC, Rahn violated numerous FINRA Rules between January 2014 to September 2018  by engaging in a pattern of breaking up customer orders for execution, failing to provide reasonable due diligence for strategies he recommended to customers, executing unauthorized trades, and causing J.P. Morgan to keep inaccurate books and records. Rahn allegedly failed to conduct reasonable due diligence to understand the cost implications of an average pricing investment strategy he recommended to customers. He executed multiple smaller trades entered at different times on the same day and frequently entered a separate commission on each trade at a higher rate than what J.P. Morgan typically charged on its standard commission schedule. Rahn allegedly exercised time and price discretion on over 7,500 trades without the written authority from any of his customers or written acceptance from his firm by entering all trades as held orders. Finally, Rahn executed 577 trades between June 2016 and September 2017 without authorization from a customer.

Based on the foregoing, Rahn violated FINRA Rules 2111(a) and 2010 and NASD Rule 2510(b). Without admitting or denying the allegations made against him, Rahn consented to an 18-month suspension from associating with any FINRA member firm in any capacity and a $10,000 fine.

Since being discharged from J.P. Morgan Securities, Rahn has two customer disputes that alleged unauthorized trading and margin use in customer’s account in order to generate commissions. The customers received $114,000 and nearly $550,000 in settlement. There is another complaint currently pending against him claiming $125,000.

If you lost money in Trevor Rahn’s “average pricing” strategy, you may be able to recover from him or Morgan Stanley. Since 1998, the attorneys at ChapmanAlbin LLC have been fighting for victims of investment fraud and broker misconduct. Call us today at 1-877-410-8172 for a free consultation.