Did you lose money investing with Halil Kozi (a/k/a Hal Kozi) (CRD# 1121714)?
Galvin Legal, PLLC is launching an investigation on behalf of investors who may have suffered losses investing with Halil Kozi (a/k/a Hal Kozi). If you suffered losses investing with Halil Kozi (a/k/a Hal Kozi), then Galvin Legal, PLLC may be able to help you recover your losses in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA“) arbitration claim.
If you suffered losses and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
As of June 20, 2020, Halil Kozi (a/k/a Hal Kozi)’s FINRA BrokerCheck Report contains the following:
SUSPENDED: FINRA has suspended this individual from acting as a broker. Please see the detailed report for more information.
Disclosure Events
1 Customer Dispute(s)
1 Regulatory Event(s)
1 Employment Separation After Allegations
4 Judgment(s)/Lien(s)
UPDATE 6/20/2020: According to FINRA’s May 2020 Disciplinary Actions: Halil Kozi (CRD #1121714, North Middletown, New Jersey) March 17, 2020 – An Offer of Settlement was issued in which Kozi was suspended from association with any FINRA member in all capacities for two years. In light of Kozi’s financial status, no monetary sanction has been imposed. Without admitting or denying the allegations, Kozi consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he recommended trading in a customer’s account that was excessive, quantitatively unsuitable and inconsistent with the customer’s moderate risk tolerance and balanced growth investment objective, as evidenced by the account’s annualized cost-to-equity ratio of 53 percent. The findings stated that the customer deposited a little over $200,000 in his account at Kozi’s member firm. Within the span of about a year and half, Kozi recommended equity and options transactions, with a principal value of over $3 million. Kozi’s recommended transactions for the customer’s account generated gross commissions totaling over $135,000, of which Kozi himself received over $87,000, while causing the customer’s account to incur losses of nearly $72,000. Commissions from this customer’s account made up 95 percent of Kozi’s commission income. The findings also stated that Kozi recommended options transactions that were unsuitable given the high level of speculation involved, as well as the transaction costs incurred when considered in the context of the customer’s investment objective, risk tolerance and financial situation and needs. Kozi lacked a reasonable basis to believe that the customer was aware of and understood the risks associated with the options trading he recommended, as the customer had no experience trading options and many of the options trades Kozi recommended were speculative and intended for sophisticated options investors. Kozi also lacked a reasonable basis to recommend that the customer purchase stock in a single speculative security in quantities that caused the stock at one point to make up 85 percent of the customer’s account value. The suspension is in effect from April 6, 2020, through April 5, 2022. (FINRA Case #2016048921102)
Current and Previous Registrations
05/09/2017 – 09/21/2017 WINDSOR STREET CAPITAL, LP (CRD#:34171) NEW YORK, NY
FINRA expelled the firm on 05/29/2018
02/17/2016 – 05/11/2017 BUCKMAN, BUCKMAN & REID, INC. (CRD#:23407) LITTLE SILVER, NJ
03/07/2013 – 03/02/2016 PHX FINANCIAL, INC. (CRD#:144403) NEW YORK, NY
05/12/2011 – 10/31/2011 NEWBRIDGE SECURITIES CORPORATION (CRD#:104065) RED BANK, NJ
10/02/2003 – 06/09/2011 MEYERS ASSOCIATES, L.P. (CRD#:34171) NEW YORK, NY
FINRA expelled the firm on 05/29/2018
01/22/2001 – 02/11/2003 UBS PAINEWEBBER INC. (CRD#:8174) WEEHAWKEN, NJ
02/14/2000 – 12/05/2000 SG COWEN SECURITIES CORPORATION (CRD#:7616) NEW YORK, NY
07/09/1997 – 02/13/1998 J.B. OXFORD & COMPANY (CRD#:14343) SHERMAN OAKS, CA
09/03/1996 – 02/25/1997 THE BOSTON GROUP (CRD#:37652) LOS ANGELES, CA
07/01/1996 – 08/23/1996 FIRST AMERICAN EQUITIES, INC. (CRD#:31091) FT LAUDERDALE, FL
02/08/1996 – 06/06/1996 KENSINGTON SECURITIES, INC. (CRD#:25001) ALISO VIEJO, CA
01/11/1995 – 02/23/1996 H.J. MEYERS & CO., INC. (CRD#:15609) ROCHESTER, NY
FINRA expelled the firm on 03/01/1999
01/29/1996 – 02/08/1996 SMITH, BENTON & HUGHES, INC. (CRD#:20877) LOS ANGELES, CA
FINRA expelled the firm on 03/29/1999
04/22/1994 – 01/03/1995 T.R. WINSTON & COMPANY, INC. (CRD#:10571) BEDMINSTER, NJ
07/30/1993 – 04/14/1994 ROBERT TODD FINANCIAL CORP. (CRD#:7423) NEW YORK, NY
10/05/1992 – 07/28/1993 WHALE SECURITIES CO., L.P. (CRD#:13516) NEW YORK, NY
06/06/1989 – 09/22/1992 LEHMAN BROTHERS INC. (CRD#:7506) NEW YORK, NY
09/22/1987 – 04/28/1988 NORSTAR BROKERAGE CORPORATION (CRD#:7313) NEW YORK, NY
If you suffered losses and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
Due Diligence Requirement
FINRA requires broker’s to conduct due diligence on investments and to conduct a suitability analysis when recommending securities to a customer that takes into account the customer’s knowledge and experience. FINRA Rule 2111(a) states that “a member or an associated person must have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended transaction or investment strategy involving a security or securities is suitable for the customer, based on the information obtained through the reasonable diligence of the member or associated person to ascertain the customer’s investment profile. A customer’s investment profile includes, but is not limited to, the customer’s age, other investments, financial situation and needs, tax status, investment objectives, investment experience, investment time horizon, liquidity needs, risk tolerance, and any other information the customer may disclose to the member or associated person in connection with such recommendation.”
Rule 2111 is composed of three main obligations: reasonable-basis suitability, customer-specific suitability, and quantitative suitability. Brokers and the brokerage firms they work for that fail to conduct adequate due diligence on investments they recommend or that make unsuitable recommendations can be held responsible for the customer’s losses in a FINRA arbitration claim.
If you suffered losses and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
Request a Free Consultation with a Securities Attorney
If you suffered losses investing with Halil Kozi (a/k/a Hal Kozi) and would like a free consultation with a securities attorney, then please call Galvin Legal, PLLC at 1-800-405-5117.
This information is all publicly available and is being provided to you by Galvin Legal, PLLC.
Galvin Legal, PLLC is a national securities arbitration, securities mediation, securities litigation, securities fraud, securities regulation and compliance, and investor protection law practice. For more information on Galvin Legal, PLLC and its representation of investors, please visit www.galvinlegal.com or call 1-800-405-5117.