Well, there is actually a way to do it, and it does require some "legal" twisting, but the brokerage firm can do it. And "C" does have a right to evaluate the trustee.
Checking in . . . Just to let you know . . . will be updating soon . . . have to take off to run to dentist's . . . there goes a cool $1000 for a crown . . . SIGH. We so appreciate your help . . . C. is moving from victim to survivor and is feeling empowered now . . . plus- not so frightened by what has to be done. We are working on letter to brokerage. Can't find the name of a compliance officer, but will make more calls this afternoon. This is a HUGE brokerage w/ national offices in many states. We are appalled at how C. has been treated in re: to record-keeping. We are taking note of the advice so we know how to demand the records. Will be back on later to let you know what is going on . . . thank you so so very much for your help, support and suggestions. This is a very lonely process and C deserves some answers - and so appreciates your support. More later! Thank you again!!!!! Ani
Call the brokerage firm and ask them the name, address, and telephone number of the compliance officer. If they refuse, add a complaint to the SEC to the list of letters to write. And BTW... you are recording your telephone conversations aren't you?
Assuming that they're in a one-party state. Otherwise, they better only be recording if they've informed the other party that they are recording and get consent.
Or if the brokerage firm has, in their smarmy automated call-system voice, announced that calls may be monitored or recorded for quality control purposes. But then you knew that, didn't you?
To my knowledge, illegal to record here . . . Started my career as a newspaper reporter here (NC) and at that time, was told i could not record phone calls unless I also recorded the permission of the other person or otherwise stated the call was being recorded, so - I assumed that was still the case. Have not looked up the current law - but no, I am not recording anything. To answer some of the earlier posts - as incredible as it sounds - indeed, the broker has refused to give C any paperwork (archival) at all. And my contention has been - NO WONDER!!! He had a fiduciary responsibility to oversee this account, and at the moment Mommy Dearest started raiding the principal - rather than just using the interest - I feel it was the broker's duty to have questioned this. Doubtless, this occurred quite some time in the past. And to continue to deplete the principal . . . seems like a crappy way to "protect" C's best interests to me!!!! He thinks he is dealing w/ a kid who is clueless . . . and probably assumes her mother has told her the money is nearly gone anyway . . . so why stick his neck out and be "helpful" w/ someone tracking his moves w/ the money/stocks/bonds originally in the account. I suspect, if we start digging, we will find chunks of money withdrawn - thousands at a time. How do we "compel" Mother to reveal what the money was withdrawn for? Or should the broker have recorded some statement from the mother as to why she was withdrawing from the account? I mean - shouldn't he have some record of "why" mother was requesting to deplete stocks/bonds? Shouldn't the broker have required some "reason" for the withdrawals? Is that too much to expect? Any advice on that? Thank you so much!
Telephone recording rules have changed. If you are in a one-party state, only one of the two parties needs to approve of the recording. In a two-party state, both parties must approve. It is an accepted interpretation that if a message says that Party A is recording, Party B, by continuing the conversation, is granting permission to record. I'm not sure that NC is a one- or two-party state, but I will see if I can dig up the information. While all of the parties involved in the management of the trust account have fiduciary responsibility, you really need to get a copy of the the executed trust instrument. If the brokerage is only the holder of the funds under the direction of the Trustee, then the beneficiary may not have the legal right to intervene directly with the brokerage firm without permission of the Trustee or a Court order. That trust instrument is important to determining the cast of characters and their relationships. Not sure if the law requires it, but the beneficiary should be able to get a copy of the trust instrument. It should be on file somewhere.
NC is a one-party state. Record away. Here's a useful link: http://www.callcorder.com/phone-recording-law-america.htm
Just called brokerage . . . Just made a call to the brokerage firm, following instructions as outlined. They said the only compliance officer was at the "main office," which is out of state. So I said - well then, surely someone there has to handle SEC and FINRA communication? That got me put on hold for a long time; then someone came back and transferred me. I got the woman's name - and she said she was the Operations Manager for the office. I explained why I was calling and said that C. had written the letter requesting the history of the account on 10 May 2007, but never received anything. She asked how I was involved in this, and I said - I have no legal standing except C's permission to assist w/ gathering info - I am her fiance's mother. She wanted to know why I was gathering info and I said b/c C wants to know where the money went, plain and simple. The woman asked what info I had on the acct and I gave her the acct. # and C's former address. She said what are C's concerns w/ the account. I said she has the right to have all paperwork and she wants to know where the money went as she has a legal right to this information. I am now waiting for a callback, as I was told they would do some "research" and call me back. In my opinion, there was no need for a callback. Just send the damned paperwork. What do you all think? What next?
At this point you may want to get C to give you a limited Power of Attorney to continue with researching this matter. Just make sure it is notarized. One of those little crossing the T and dotting the I things that make life go a lot more smoothly.
Another stall tactic Okay - operations manager called me back. Said she was going to have to do more research on this account and due to privacy issues, would not really be able to give me any information. I said - of course you can't, and that is fine, but what needs to happen here is simply get the historic accounting docs mailed to C. She said well she would call me back tomorrow and let me know if she did, indeed, locate the documents. I thought - you gotta be kidding me. I said - well we want this mailed ASAP. She said she would see what she could find. I can't believe this. I have put in a call to C. Her address is a PO box addy - is that going to be alright to use or will they want a physical addy? I am thinking what needs to happen now is that we do not wait on the brokerage firm but rather send another letter to the lady I spoke with, dated today, stating that this is to inform them to send the documentation on the account activity to C at xx address ASAP. Why are they stalling like this????? Seems awfully suspicious to me.
Good idea I had thought about this, too . . . I will see how C feels about it. I feel sure we can DL a limited Power of Attorney template off the Net somewhere. You have been so helpful= thank you!!!
Believe it or not, you can do it for the account with the brokerage firm..."C" can give you POA on the account. It's a simple form. P.S. I'll reply to some of your previous items, just crammed for time right now..
This is sounding quite sensible . . . Gonna DL a form right now and then talk to C about it. We can get that notarized. I just want her to feel totally comfortable as she has had her trust broken by people who were supposed to be looking out for her best interests. The other thing I want her to learn is - she does not have to be a victim. She can be a survivor. Thank you so much for taking the time to advise.
You might want to write that letter to the brokerage as one confirming your conversation with <name here> and restating the failures to get documentation as previously corrected, making sure that they have C's correct/current address, and asking that a full and complete account of the Trust be forwarded to C at their soon as practicable. CC to C, too. Begin to build a paper trail to go along with the recorded telephone conversations. I would make sure that C gets a copy of everything.
Will do tonite! Thank you for the advice. I will do that tonite! Meanwhile, will discuss limited POA w/ C. Appreciate your help!
Before you go fill it out the POA and get it notarized, check with the brokerage and see what they require. They may require what is called a mediallion guarantee, which has to be done by a bank or certain other institutions. It is more than a simple notary.
First, do not let the brokerage firm off the hook re: Compliance Officer name and phone number. Make sure you still get that (of "C" does). If they refuse to provide it, this is another violation. Your other option is to call the FINRA, or go on line, and look it up. The Compliance Officer must be registered as such. Also, at this point you may want "C" to do a Public Records search on herself. There are numerous firms out there that do this for a modest fee. I believe some can pull credit reports as well (if given permission). Again, just google "Public Records Search", and you'l find plenty of them. Just keep pushing, you're going in the right direction. Understand that the brokergae firm will drag thier feet on this, so do not let up on them.
Hi everyone, this is C! First I want to thank you for all the help and information. I wouldn't know what to do first without you. Is "Intelius" a reputable site to get public records from? Or is there somewhere local one can go to get them?
