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Important Information for LaSalle St. Investors

Securities Lawyer Jonathan Kurta
By: Jonathan Kurta Author
April 28, 2023 at 4:45pm

Did you lose money after working with LaSalle St. Securities? La Salle St. Securities (CRD #: 7191) is a brokerage firm with headquarters in Elmhurst, Illinois. It registered with the SEC in 1975 and describes itself as a “full-service boutique with brokerage, advisory, and insurance products and services.”

What LaSalle Offers

LaSalle offers the following services and products:

LaSalle St. Securities’ Track Record

Investors should know that this firm has 20 disclosures on its BrokerCheck record, including 15 regulatory actions. Regulatory actions may reveal oversights and shortcomings in the firm’s supervision of its brokers. Keep reading if you have lost money after working with a LaSalle St. Securities broker and think you may have questions for a securities attorney.

Can I Sue LaSalle St. Securities?

Yes, you can recover losses from LaSalle St. Securities. However, you may go through a process called FINRA arbitration rather than suing in civil court. Many firms include a pre-dispute arbitration clause in their investment contracts that requires investors to use FINRA arbitration. Arbitration proceedings are nonpublic and the process is designed to be quicker and more affordable than a civil case. Securities attorneys can help you if you wish to pursue arbitration.

Securities Lawyer Jonathan Kurta
Written by: Jonathan Kurta

Jonathan Kurta is an accomplished securities attorney and a founding partner at Kurta Law.

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View from the street of the One World Trade Center

Conflicts of Interest Disclosures

Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) requires brokerage firms to disclose their conflicts of interest to their customers in the Customer Relationship Summary form (Form CRS). The form suggests that investors ask, “How might your conflicts of interest affect me and how will you address them?”

LaSalle St. Securities makes the following disclosures:

  • The brokerage firm has an incentive to encourage its clients to execute more frequent trades to generate more commissions.
  • LaSalle St. Securities also has an incentive to recommend investments that pay the firm revenue over securities that do not.
  • The firm earns more when they buy and sell securities from their own account. LaSalle therefore has a conflict of interest when they recommend securities from their own accounts.
  • LaSalle may receive third-party payments from product sponsors when the firm recommends certain products.

LaSalle St. Securities Broker Fees

The Form CRS recommends that investors ask questions and endeavor to understand how brokerage fees affect their investments. Investors should know that they will pay fees no matter how their investments perform.  

Brokerage account securities transactions may come with the following fees:

 

  • Transaction-based commissions for the broker.
  • “Trails,” or ongoing fees paid to the firm paid by certain investments, like mutual funds.
  • Custodial and/or administrative services.
  • Wire and transfer fees.
  • Bank charges and other expense charges.
  • Certain products, like mutual funds, ETFs, annuities, and REITs, feature their own expenses.

Regulatory Actions

Investors should review the following regulatory actions on LaSalle St. Securities’ record. To see the most up-to-date list of disclosures, visit the firm’s detailed BrokerCheck record.

Allegedly Misleading Private Placement Memorandum

On November 10, 2014, LaSalle St. Securities consented to the FINRA findings that the firm failed to exercise adequate due diligence before allowing a registered representative to distribute a private placement memorandum to potential investors that did not include certain facts. It also allegedly relied on a flawed methodology for projecting the returns on an investment.

The firm also allegedly failed to supervise another representative who participated in selling transactions away from the firm, in violation of FINRA Rule 3280.

As part of the terms of an Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent agreement, the firm consented to a fine of $175,000.

Allegations of Undisclosed Compensation

LaSalle St. Securities was also the subject of SEC allegations in 2012. The SEC alleged that a registered investment adviser earned undisclosed compensation by charging increased commissions on trades sold through LaSalle. The adviser allegedly told clients they received a discount on the commission rates, when the adviser had in fact set the commissions at increased levels. The SEC alleges that their undisclosed compensation practices earned more than $186,000 in higher commissions paid by clients. The SEC imposed a civil monetary penalty of $100,000 and ordered LaSalle to return over $186,000 to their clients.

What Should I Do if I Lost Money with LaSalle St. Securities?

Call 877-600-0098 or email info@kurtalawfirm.com for a free case evaluation.

Our attorneys have experience with securities fraud, FINRA arbitration, and broker misconduct.