DOMINIC TROPIANO of Cleveland Barred by FINRA

DOMINIC ANTHONY TROPIANO (Dominic Torpiano) CRD#: 4761462, former Cleveland, Ohio broker, has been barred by FINRA, May 9, 2019, from acting as a broker or otherwise associating with a broker-dealer firm for alleged unsuitable trading in non-traditional ETFs.
According to FINRA’s report, Dominic Torpiano consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he allegedly recommended transactions involving non-traditional exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to clients without having a reasonable basis to believe those transactions were suitable for anyone, due to his lack of understanding of the unique risks, terms and features of the products.
FINRA’s findings alleged that Dominic Torpiano's recommendations involving non-traditional ETFs were also unsuitable for those clients in light of their investment profiles, which included conservative investment objectives. According to FINRA, Tropiano allegedly caused non-traditional ETF transactions to be placed in clients' securities accounts without the clients' knowledge or consent, and in the absence of written or oral authorization for him to place these trades.
Tropiano allegedly recommended these high risk products to at least 47 customers of America Northcoast Securities. From May of 2015 to April of 2016, Dominic Tropiano allegedly recommended 866 trades in non-traditional ETFs, which use futures contracts, swaps, and other derivatives to leverage their performance or short the underlying index and benchmark and are designed to achieve their objectives only on a daily basis.
Also, FINRA’s findings alleged that Dominic Torpiano was not properly registered with FINRA while engaging in the securities business of a firm by soliciting the purchase and sale of non-traditional ETFs in the accounts of firm clients.
According to FINRA, no restitution was ordered, because Dominic Torpiano's member firm paid a total of $1,526,500 to its clients for losses suffered as a result of the non-traditional ETF transactions solicited by Tropiano while at the firm.
Tropiano had been registered with Key Investment Services from July of 2008 to April of 2015 and then became a nonregistered associated person with America Northcoast in May of 2015. According to FINRA, Tropiano’s brother-in-law was the president and chief compliance officer at America Northcoast. He allegedly told Tropiano to refer Key Investment clients who asked for a referral to a different broker-dealer to bring them over to America Northcoast. From May 2015 to April 2016, at least 47 of the clients opened accounts with America Northcoast.
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, available to the public on FINRA’s website, Dominic Tropiano has 9 Disclosures on his report, 8 of the Disclosures are Customer Disputes, the majority of the Customer Disputes involve the 2015 and 2016 investments in leveraged ETFs. Topiano has been in the securities industry for 10 years and was listed with 4 firms, the two most recent listed below:
05/09/2016 - 06/10/2016  AMERICA NORTHCOAST SECURITIES INC - CLEVELAND, OH
08/06/2008 - 04/22/2015  KEY INVESTMENTS SERVICES LLC - CHAGRIN FALLS, OH
If you’ve experienced losses, particularly in ETFs due to the actions or recommendations of former AMERICA NORTHCOAST SECURITIES INC of CLEVELAND, OH, broker, DOMINIC ANTHONY TROPIANO, contact an experienced securities lawyer at Soreide Law Group at no cost regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group works on a contingency fee and represents our clients nationwide before FINRA.