Investment Losses with Damon Vickers and Frank Black

Did you or someone you know lose money with Damon Vickers or Frank Black, both former brokers with Southeast Investments? If so, you may be entitled to recover your investment losses. Vickers had regulatory actions filed against him by the Sate of Washington Securities Division, alleging that he engaged in excessive trading in customer discretionary brokerage accounts. Allegedly, from 2009 until 2012, Vickers generated $5.3 million in commissions from these trading activities. The division found that the commissions were unreasonable compared to what customers would have been charged had they been offered fee-based accounts. This is often referred to as “churning” and is when a broker excessively trades in a customer’s account in order to generate commissions. It is when a broker frequently buys and sells securities that do little to meet the client’s investment objectives. It is an illegal and unethical practice that violates securities rules and regulations. A broker must take into account a client’s age, net worth, investment objectives, portfolio and investment sophistication before recommending a security.

During this time period, Frank Black was Vickers’ designated supervisor. The state found that Black violated the Securities Act of Washington by failing to reasonably supervise Vickers by approving his commission schedule and failed to maintain adequate supervisory policies regarding the review of discretionary accounts for signs of excessive trading, which is also against securities rules and regulations. Frank Black and Southeast Investments had a duty to reasonably supervise their representatives during the time they were employed there. Their lack of supervision could make them liable for investment losses and Southeast Investments can be sued to recover money.

Vickers was registered with the following firms: The Stuart-James Company, Madison Chapin Associates, Escalator Securities, Aurex Financial Corp, Melbourne GSI Corp, Securities America, Clearing Services of America, Laidlaw Equities, Janssen-Meyers Associates, Capital Securities of America, Westminster Financial Securities, LaSalle St. Securities, Brokersxpress LLC, International Financial Solutions, and Southeast Investments in San Juan, Puerto Rico from October 2008 until February 2014. He has three customer disputes against him and one criminal. He is not currently licensed within the industry.