CFD Investments Inc. Fined and Censured by FINRA Over Non-Traditional ETF Sales

Soreide Law Group obtained the following information on FINRA’s website, which is available to the public, under “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions November 2017.”
CFD Investments, Inc. (CRD #25427, Kokomo, Indiana)
was censured and fined $30,000 for allegedly failing to establish, maintain, and enforce a reasonable supervisory system designed to ensure the review of its representatives’ sales of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds (non-traditional ETFs).
FINRA’s findings stated that CFD Investments allegedly failed to reasonably supervise the sales of non-traditional ETFs, in that firm representatives sold non-traditional ETFs totaling $2 million dollars to their clients, involving approximately 150 transactions. CFD Investments did not have written procedures reasonably tailored to address the unique features and risks associated with non-traditional ETFs and did not provide formal training to the representatives involved in selling the products to retail clients.
Also, FINRA’s findings stated that CFD Investments did not have any exception reports or surveillance tools to monitor the accounts holding non-traditional ETFs for potentially unsuitable and lengthy holding periods. As a consequence, many of the clients held these products for long periods of time.
(FINRA Case #2014039216501)
Investors need to understand that leveraged and inverse ETFs reset daily. This means that they are designed to achieve their objectives on a daily basis so their performance can quickly diverge from the performance of the underlying index or benchmark. Investors could suffer significant losses, especially in volatile markets.
FINRA Executive Vice President and Chief of Enforcement, Brad Bennett, was quoted as saying, "The complexity of leveraged and inverse exchange-traded products makes it essential for securities firms and their representatives to understand these products before recommending them to their customers. Firms must also conduct reasonable due diligence on these and other complex products, sufficiently train their sales force and have adequate supervisory systems in place before offering them to retail investors."
If you suffered losses due to the actions or recommendations of CFD Investments, Inc., call Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer regarding the possible recovery of your financial losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group represents clients nationwide before FINRA and we operate on a contingency fee basis.