Masood Azad, Barred First Allied Securities Broker, Accused Of Selling Away

Masood Azad (Masood Husain Azad, CRD# 4798445) is a barred broker last registered with First Allied Securities, Inc. (CRD# 32444) in League City, Texas. He was previously registered with Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. (CRD# 2882). He had been in the industry since 2004.

Masood Azad Disclosures

Masood Azad has 5 disclosures on his publicly-available FINRA BrokerCheck report, including 3 customer disputes, 1 regulatory disclosure, and 1 employment separation after allegations:

February, 2020: A customer dispute states “Claimant alleges her financial advisers improperly solicited an investment in an unapproved outside securities transaction. Claimant alleges unsuitability, fraud, breach of contract, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.” $950,000 in damages were requested. The dispute is pending as of this writing.

February, 2020: A customer dispute states “Claimant alleges her financial advisers improperly solicited an investment in an unapproved outside securities transaction. Claimant alleges unsuitability, fraud, breach of contract, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty.” $400,000 in damages were requested. The dispute is pending as of this writing.

February, 2020: A customer dispute states “Claimants allege their financial adviser solicited two unapproved outside securities. Claimants generally allege malpractice against their registered representative. They allege unsuitability, fraud, breach of contract, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty against their registered representative and the firm.” $1,100,000 in damages were requested. The dispute is pending as of this writing.

November, 2017: A regulatory disclosure states that Azad was indefinitely barred from associating with a FINRA member firm in all capacities after he failed to provide information FINRA requested regarding an investigation into allegations that he “participated in an unapproved private securities transaction by soliciting investments and/or directly investing in an electronic data security company and engaged in outside business activities involving the company without obtaining authorization from the firm.”

May, 2017: A regulatory disclosure states that Azad was discharged from First Allied Securities because he “violated firm policy relating to borrowing money from clients, engaging in an unapproved private securities transaction and outside business activity.”

Accusations Of Selling Away

Something that comes up in each of Azad’s disclosures is an allegation that he had clients participate in outside, unapproved securities transactions, which is known as selling away. Brokers are required to disclose all their outside business activity to the firm they are registered with, and to have the firm approve of it. Brokers may not notify their firm of outside business activity because it involves too much risk and they know that the firm will not approve of it. Often, a broker will participate in selling away anyway because the transaction earns them more compensation than approved transactions.

Even if a broker engaged in unapproved outside transactions without their firm’s knowledge, the firm can still be held accountable. Investors who have losses from selling away may be eligible to recover their losses through FINRA arbitration.

Did You Invest With Masood Azad Or First Allied Securities?

Silver Law Group is a nationally-recognized law firm with extensive experience recovering investor losses in cases of securities and investment fraud and stockbroker misconduct, including cases of selling away.

If you have investment losses from outside transactions or other causes, contact Silver Law Group or call toll free at (800)-975-4345 for a no-cost consultation. Most cases are handled on a contingent fee basis, which means that nothing is owed unless we recover money for you.