Broker fraud - how to avoid?

[frugal]

Hello investors.

How do you do to prevent your broker firm to do fraud ?

I want to avoid that if one day the broker is bankrupted you don't lose your assets.

Which documents and procedures shall we ask to guarantee that the assets are in our name and not in a bulk or brokers name?

Please help.

Best regards.

[Pointedstick]

Is this a common problem in Portugal?

[Mouro]

Is this a common problem in Portugal?

Not really.

There are obviously some dubious issues going on with some bank and trading companies regarding derivatives products, however for the most part I do not think that Portugal is any worse or better than any other countries.

[dutchtraffic]

Is this a common problem in Portugal?

It's a problem everywhere.

*cough* mfglobal *cough*

[Pointedstick]

The answer really is, "you don't." You can't prevent other people from committing fraud. Choose a reputable firm, learn to live with the risk, and move on with life. It's really not worth losing sleep over, and it's why holding some physical gold is a good idea anyway.

[Libertarian666]

Is this a common problem in Portugal?

It's a problem everywhere.

*cough* mfglobal *cough*

I believe those people got their money back eventually, but I'm sure it was very tense for quite awhile.

Personally, I don't keep much money with brokers, so I'm not very exposed to such issues.

[ochotona]

I have an advisor through whom I access proprietary momentum strategies from Gary Antonacci and one other company.

The key is... I own the securities, I can log into my account, which is run by a reputable third-part brokerage firm (FOLIO) and I see how many shares I own, and the values. The securities are publicly traded, so everything is transparent.

You never want to give someone money and they put it into a black box. That's like Madoff.

[dutchtraffic]

I have an advisor through whom I access proprietary momentum strategies from Gary Antonacci and one other company.

The key is... I own the securities, I can log into my account, which is run by a reputable third-part brokerage firm (FOLIO) and I see how many shares I own, and the values. The securities are publicly traded, so everything is transparent.

You never want to give someone money and they put it into a black box. That's like Madoff.

You don't own the securities, they are not on your name.

[murphy_p_t]

does Vanguard offer theoretical protection since it is really a co-op, owned by its shareholders?