After JP Morgan Securities paid $14 million to settle a customer's complaint that the firm failed to supervise Los Angeles broker Antoine Nabih Souma who allegedly fabricated account statements all while engaging in excessive and unsuitable trading and unauthorized discretion, FINRA has fined and suspended Souma, finding that the Southern California stockbroker provided incorrect and misleading account reports to a JP Morgan customer.
According to AWC #2018057692701, broker Antoine Souma (CRD #4210987) sent inaccurate reports to a customer while associated with JP Morgan's Los Angeles branch, understanding commissions that the customer paid for transactions. In addition to the commission underreporting, FINRA found that Souma's reports also included incorrect information about the customer's portfolio, including municipal securities, bonds, structured products, and these products' related transactions.
Souma denied the allegations that led to JP Morgan's $14 million settlement, which in addition to the excessive and unsuitable trading, included charges of misrepresentation, omission of material facts, constructive fraud, promissory estoppel, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Since leaving JP Morgan in 2016, Souma spent four years at Morgan Stanley (also in Los Angeles) before joining three firms in Beverly Hills, CA. In 2020, Souma joined Insigneo Securities in both an investment adviser and broker capacity, while in 2021, Souma additionally joined Galliott Capital Advisors as an investment adviser.
Souma's position at Insigneo Securities (broker) and Insigneo Advisory Services (advisor) is Senior Vice President, while Souma's position at Galliott Capital Advisors in Managing Member & Investment Advisor Representative. Souma's BrokerCheck file lists additional business activities including a handful of real estate holdings, including investment properties in Glendale and Los Angeles.
If you invested with former JP Morgan Securities registered representative Antoine Souma or with any broker or investment adviser that supplied you with fake, inaccurate, fraudulent, or fictitious account statements or reports that failed to accurately report fees, commissions, holdings, and account values, or who unsuitably traded in your account without authorization, unsuitably recommended products, or misrepresented and omitted material facts that have proven harmful to your investments or interests, please call an experienced FINRA arbitration attorney at The Law Offices of Jonathan W. Evans & Associates at (800) 699-1881 for an investigation and consultation.