SEC Sanctions David Lerner Associates for Regulation Best Interest Violations
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
David Lerner Associates has agreed to settle Securities and Exchange (SEC) charges alleging violations of Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) that resulted in unnecessary costs to retail investors, according to InvestmentNews.
Under the settlement, the firm will pay approximately $201,600, consisting of $126,500 in disgorgement, about $15,100 in prejudgment interest, and a $60,000 civil penalty. The SEC's order focuses on two separate areas where the firm allegedly failed to satisfy its obligations under Reg BI.
First, the SEC found that between 2020 and 2024, the firm's recommendations involving mutual fund transactions generated roughly $230,000 in additional upfront costs for clients. According to the SEC, David Lerner Associates recommended at least 253 transactions in which retail customers sold Class A mutual fund shares that they had held for less than one year and then almost immediately purchased Class A shares in a different fund family.
Those transactions, commonly known in the brokerage industry as mutual fund switches, triggered new upfront sales charges for customers. The SEC concluded that the firm failed to comply with Reg BI when making those recommendations.
Second, the SEC alleged that David Lerner Associates failed to establish and maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with Reg BI from 2020 through April 2025.
Reg BI requires broker-dealers and registered representatives to place clients' interests ahead of their own financial interests when making recommendations. The rule also requires firms to identify, disclose, and mitigate conflicts of interest.
In a statement cited by InvestmentNews, a spokesperson for David Lerner Associates said that the firm's Reg BI issues dated back five to six years and have since been addressed. The spokesperson added that the firm remains committed to acting in investors' best interests and complying with applicable regulatory requirements while providing investment guidance to clients.
The settlement marks the latest regulatory matter involving David Lerner Associates, a Long Island-based firm known for selling municipal bonds and alternative investments, including non-traded REITs.
As InvestmentNews noted, the firm previously has faced significant regulatory scrutiny from FINRA. In 2013, FINRA ordered David Lerner Associates to pay $12 million in restitution related to alleged unfair sales practices and excessive markups involving a non-traded REIT known as Apple REIT 10. FINRA also imposed more than $2.3 million in fines related to municipal bond and collateralized mortgage obligation transactions. The firm's founder, David Lerner, also received a suspension from the securities industry in connection with that matter.
More recently, InvestmentNews reported that David Lerner Associates resolved a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) matter involving sales of energy limited partnerships. In that case, FINRA alleged that the firm's brokers made unsuitable recommendations to approximately 200 customers between 2015 and 2019. The firm agreed to pay $1 million in restitution to affected clients to settle those allegations.
In resolving the SEC's latest action, David Lerner Associates neither admitted nor denied the agency's findings.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
Tags: eccleston, eccleston law, sec sanctions, regulation best interest, reg bi violations, david lerner associates, securities regulation





