Excessive Trading (Churning)
There’s no more classic, blatant conflict of interest and ethical violation than excessive trading. Often referred to as churning, this ethical violation involves a professional recommending or making trades in a customer’s account simply for the sake of generating revenue. In plain English, recommending or making a trade simply to generate a commission is unethical.
At the core of this is the most basic conflict of interest in the securities industry—the client’s net worth versus the professional’s net worth. Simply put, all transactions recommended or made must be with the intent of