Constantinos Maniatis – Unauthorized Trading, Misrepresentation
Constantinos Maniatis is a financial advisor at Corps Capital Partners. He used to work at Morgan Stanley. However, he received a suspension from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for 30 days.
The industry watchdog alleged that Constantinos engaged in discretionary trading without having written authorization in 7 customer accounts during the time period May 2018 – February 2019.
Also, FINRA fined Constantinos Maniatis $5,000.
Constantinos Maniatis made the alleged violations when he was working at Morgan Stanley IN Dallas,Texas.
Due to the ‘alleged’ misconduct related to diverting revenue from his “assigned rep code” and a non-discretionary account, Morgan Stanley removed him from their company in May 2019.
Since then, Constantinos Maniatis has been working with Corps Capital Partners.
It’s worth noting that reliable financial advisors don’t face such allegations, particularly from FINRA. That’s why you should always check the professional history of a FA before beginning your professional relationship with them.
More on the Suspension of Constantinos Maniatis:
Maniatis entered into a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in April 2021. The letter number is 2019062788601. FINRA had alleged that between May 2018 and February 2019, Constantinos Maniatis exercised discretion in 7 customer accounts although his employer, Morgan Stanley, did not permit such discretionary trading.
Furthermore, many of his discretionary transactions involved municipal securities.
More specifically, FINRA alleged that during that particular time period, Maniatis exercised discretion in 7 accounts on 105 different occasions.
Furthermore, 13 of those transactions involved municipal securities.
While Morgan Stanley and his clients had previously authorized the exercise of discretion in those accounts, during the time period in which Constatinos Maniatis exercised his discretion, Morgan Stanley did not permit the same.
Moreover, Morgan Stanley did not accept those accounts as discretionary accounts during that time period.
Hence, Constatinos Maniatis violated NASD Rule 2510(b), FINRA Rule 2010 and MSRB Rule G-17.
This was a case of unauthorized trading. It usually occurs when a customer retains discretion. When working with a non-discretionary account, brokers must obtain their customer’s permission before placing a trade every time.
Also, unauthorized trading is unethical and illegal. It violates securities rules and regulators, causing grave damages to the clients.
More Info on Constantinos Maniatis:
Constantinos Maniatis has been in the finance industry for nearly 2 decades. Apart from Corps Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley, he has also worked with Citigroup Global Markets and Merrill Lynch.
Furthermore, the suspension we shared above wasn’t the only time Maniatis faced a dispute.
Customer Dispute (2014)
In 2014, a customer of Constantinos Maniatis filed a written complaint to Morgan Stanely. In their complaint, the customer alleged that Maniatis made misrepresentations related to an investment strategy involving energy positions.
However, the client didn’t file a securities arbitration complaint and decided to send a complaint to the brokerage firm.
Hence, the brokerage firm denied the customer’s complaint and offered no compensation.
Note that Maniatis isn’t the only FA who has faced such disputes. Greg Baker Merrill Lynch is another financial advisor who has faced disputes causing damages of over $500,000. You should always be wary of such advisors.
Should You Trust Constantinos Maniatis?
Although Constantinos Maniatis has a lot of industry experience, his history of alleged unauthorized trading and misrepresentation suggests he is not very reliable.
Both, unauthorized trading and misrepresentation are major issues as they are unethical and illegal.
Due to these reasons, it would be best for you to find a different FA.
I agree 100%.
FAs like Constantinos Maniatis should be barred from providing their services to others. He has a history of misrepresentation and using his clients’ funds without their permission.
He deserved a more serious punishment.
Either he paid someone off or made it sound like he didn’t do much.
Why did Corps Capital Advisors hire a crook like this guy??
Constantinos Maniatis is a very difficult person to deal with. When he was fired from Morgan Stanley, many people sighed from relief. Trust me, he was a big pain in the a#£ when he was at MS. Very few people liked him. I don’t think there are many people who like him in Corps Capital Advisors either.
Corps Capital Advisors should conduct a thorough review of Constantinos Maniatis and his professional past. This is no small matter. The guy was SUSPENDED by FINRA. You don’t face such severe punishment unless you have done something very wrong.
Constantinos doesn’t look like a reliable guy either.