ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
Preventing Fraud and Abusive Practices
Know Your Adviser Before You Buy
Knowing who to trust for professional financial advice may be the most important step for consumers, especially seniors, when turning to an adviser for financial planning help. The San Francisco and California securities fraud and financial elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. recommend you always start with a background check. Our lawyers represent California consumers, especially seniors, who suffer fraud and/or financial elder abuse from brokers and financial advisors and have learned that initial background checks may have prevented the ensuing harm. If you or a loved one lives in California and has suffered a loss as a result of financial elder abuse by a stockbroker, insurance agent, or other financial advisor, call us today at (415)441-8669.
The government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau offers a free guide to help you ask the right questions if you’re shopping for an adviser touting expertise in senior financial planning. You can download it here: https://pueblo.gpo.gov/Publications/pdfs/6168.pdf. The guide highlights three important tips:
- Before you trust any adviser, check the person’s background.
- Not all titles or credentials for retirement or senior financial planning are the same.
- Beware sales pitches disguised as free lunch or “educational” seminars.
Background Checks
You can check broker backgrounds at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) search tool available at investor.gov. In addition to investor.gov you can also get information at SEC Action Lookup – Individuals (SALI) on past SEC proceedings against your broker. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) also provides a free background search tool at https://brokercheck.finra.org/. You can use the FINRA search tool to check backgrounds on SEC- and State-registered brokers and financial advisors. We recommend you use all available tools to research any seller before you buy. If you already have purchased an investment and suffered a loss as a result of fraud, call the securities and financial elder abuse lawyers at Evans Law Firm.
Contact Us
If you or someone you love is the victim of any type of securities fraud or financial elder abuse in California, call the San Francisco and California securities fraud and elder abuse attorneys at Evans Law Firm, Inc. at (415) 441-8669, or by email at <a href=”mailto:info@evanslaw.com”>info@evanslaw.com</a>. Our attorneys have experience with fraud and financial elder abuse cases and complex qui tam or whistleblower cases including offshore tax avoidance cases, complex financial contract cases and cases against large insurance companies. We can help guide your case through a FINRA Arbitration, jury trial or toward an equitable settlement. We also handle cases involving physical elder abuse, nursing home abuse, whole life insurance and universal life insurance, and indexed, variable, and fixed annuities.
