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Articles Tagged with scott silver Centaurus Financial

The SEC has strict rules about how a broker-dealer operates, runs their business and keeps records.  Any variation from these rules can trigger a sanction or other regulatory process. Centaurus Financial has been the subject of multiple sanctions for various infractions and disputes filed by customers. For these regulatory sanctions, the company has paid over half a million dollars in penalties, fines and fees over the years. In some cases, there were no financial products involved or sold, only regulatory violations.

Centaurus has paid out over three million dollars in securities arbitration awards and judgments.

Attorney Scott Silver, of the Silver Law Group says:

Cindy Lucille Porto Chiellini (CRD #1015592) is a currently registered broker with Centaurus Financial, Inc. (CRD #30833) of Lexington, SC, since 2015. Previously, she worked with J.P. Turner & Company, L.L.C. (CRD #43177), Gunnallen Financial, Inc. (CRD #17609) and First Allied Securities, Inc. (CRD #32444), all of Lexington. She has been in the industry since 1984.

Securities-Industry-Lingo-May-Interfere-With-Financial-Advising-300x161Chiellini has three recent customer disputes in her long financial career, but no disciplinary actions. The first dispute was filed on 05/21/2018, from the beneficiaries of a deceased client. The claimants alleged that Chiellini recommended unsuitable investments that resulted in a loss when they decided to liquidate. They have requested damages of $100,000. Chiellini denies the allegations, and states that she not only reviewed the investments with her original client before they were purchased, but also discussed options with the beneficiaries after the client passed away. The beneficiaries decided to liquidate rather than wait, and signed statements that they understood the loss involved by immediate liquidation instead of waiting for these securities to reach full maturity. This claim is currently pending.

The second dispute was filed on 4/17/2018, alleging that his account had “less liquidity” than he told Chiellini he wanted, and lost principal when he sold. The client requested damages of $170,000. Chiellini’s response denied the accusations. After explaining the investment strategies and providing relevant documentation, as well as receiving the customer’s signature on forms certifying that he understood everything, the customer took the advice of a non-licensed securities and insurance individual to liquidate everything over the protests of Chiellini and Centaurus Financial. After the firm examined the evidence, they denied the claim.

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