William Keeney: $1.8MM Complaint Against Merrill Lynch Rep

William Keeney (CRD# 3082733), a broker and investment adviser located in Newton, Massachusetts, has received a pending customer complaint alleging damages exceeding $1 million. According to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) records, Keeney is currently registered with Merrill Lynch as a broker and an investment adviser.

William Keeney’s BrokerCheck report lists one pending investor complaint and one denied investor complaint against him. Filed in October 2020, the pending complaint alleges that as a representative of Merrill Lynch, William Keeney recommended unsuitable investments from December 2015 until February 2020. The pending complaint alleges damages of $1.88 million.

Another complaint, filed in 2005, alleged that as a representative of Banc of America Investment Services, Keeney recommended an unsuitable investment in a mutual fund that resulted in losses. The investor sought damages of $25,000 in the complaint, but it was denied by the firm.

Keeney’s disclosure records list a third complaint that was closed with no action taken. Filed in 2019, it alleged that as a representative of Merrill Lynch, Keeney recommended unsuitable index option investments that resulted in unspecified losses. The complaint was closed.

A representative of Merrill Lynch’s Newton, Massachusetts branch office since 2009, William Keeney has three prior registrations: Banc of America Investment Services in Sudbury, Massachusetts; Quick & Reilly in Newton, Massachusetts; and Morgan Stanley DW in Purchase, New York. He has passed five securities industry qualifying examinations: the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination, or Series 65; the Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination, or Series 63; the Securities Industry Essentials Examination, or SIE; the General Securities Representative Examination, or Series 7; and the Futures Managed Funds Examination, or Series 31. He currently holds 23 state securities licenses and ten self-regulatory organization registrations, including: Cboe BYX Exchange, Cboe BZX Exchange, Cboe Exchange, FINRA, Investors’ Exchange, the Nasdaq Stock Market, and the New York Stock Exchange. (Information current as of July 13, 2021.)