Churning – in a churning claim, the customer alleges that the broker purchased and sold securities solely to generate commissions, without regard to the customer’s investment objectives or goals. In the typical churning case, the customer must prove: 1) that the broker controlled the account; 2) that the trading was excessive in light of investment objectives; and 3) that the broker intended to defraud the customer or acted willfully or recklessly.
From Investopedia: Churning means excessive trading by a broker in a client’s account largely to generate commissions. Churning is an illegal and unethical practice that violates SEC rules and securities laws. While there is no quantitative measure for churning, frequent buying and selling of securities that does little to meet the client’s investment objectives may be construed as evidence of churning.
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Mark Astarita is a nationally recognized securities attorney, who represents investors, financial professionals and firms in securities litigation, arbitration and regulatory matters, including SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement proceedings.
He is a partner in the national securities law firm Sallah Astarita & Cox, LLC, and the founder of The Securities Law Home Page - SECLaw.com, which was one of the first legal topic sites on the Internet. It went online in 1995 and is updated daily with news, commentary and securities law related links.
