IMS Securities Shutting Down

IMS Securities Inc., a Houston-based broker-dealer, is terminating its registration with FINRA and shutting down, according to the company’s BrokerCheck report.

Last month, The DI Wire reported that a FINRA arbitration panel awarded eight individual retirement account owners more than $2.3 million in compensatory damages from IMS Securities and two of its registered representatives.

The claimants asserted that IMS Securities over-concentrated their retirement portfolios in illiquid alternative investments, including United Development Funding IV, ARC New York City REIT, and NetReit.

IMS Securities was ordered to pay $1.3 million in damages, while the two reps were ordered to pay a combined $983,000, according to a report by FINRA’s Office of Dispute Resolution.

IMS Securities was founded in 1994 by Jackie Wadsworth and sold stocks, bonds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, privately traded real estate investment trusts, direct participation plans, annuities and variable life insurance.

The company has approximately 100 registered representatives in 16 states and is registered to do business in 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to a cached copy of company’s website, which is currently offline.

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