Securities Industry Expert & Consultant

As a former Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Branch Manager and Private Wealth Advisor, Mr. Karabas provides a uniquely comprehensive perspective on industry standards, fiduciary obligations, and regulatory expectations for both RIAs and broker-dealers.

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Core Expert-Witness Specializations

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1. Fiduciary Duty & Standard of Care

• RIA fiduciary evaluations

• Suitability and Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) analysis

• Conflict-of-interest review & disclosure practices

• Assessment of advisor conduct vs. industry norms

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2. Supervisory Systems & Compliance Program Effectiveness

• Failure-to-supervise assessments

• Review of WSPs, supervisory structure, and enforcement

• Advisor oversight, escalation protocols, and training programs

• Interpretation of SEC exam findings and compliance expectations

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3. Operational Controls, Fraud Prevention & AML Red-Flag Escalation

• Unauthorized wire transfers & account takeover failures

• POA, authentication, and authority verification

• AML escalation, suspicious-activity procedures, KYC/EDD

• Elder financial exploitation and red-flag identification

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4. Complex Products, Trading Practices & Portfolio Suitability

• Options, futures, annuities, alternatives, structured products

• Concentration, leverage, volatility, and hedging analysis

• RIA portfolio construction and investment-policy alignment

• Misrepresentation, risk disclosure, and product-approval issues

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5. Damages, Causation & Financial Analysis

• Profit/loss reconstruction and hypothetical performance modeling

• Cost-to-equity, turnover, commission analysis

• Causation vs. market-driven losses

• Clear, defensible damages models for arbitration or trial

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Credentials

• Juris Doctor (JD) – John Marshall Law School

• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE®)

• Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®)

• Certified Financial Planner (CFP®)

• Former FINRA Registered Principal (Series 24)

• Past registrations: Series 3, 5, 7, 15, 63, 65

• Member: Securities Expert Roundtable, ACFE, FPA, Investment & Wealth Institute

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Industry Leadership Experience

• Chief Compliance Officer & COO, Embree Financial Group

• District Branch Manager, Waddell & Reed

• Managing Director, Vestor Capital Partners

• Private Wealth Advisor & First Vice President, Merrill Lynch

• Securities Litigation Consultant, Independent

• Derivatives Specialist, Paine Webber, Oppenheimer, Prudential-Bache

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Engagement Philosophy

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Mr. Karabas provides fact-driven, regulatorily informed expert opinions designed to withstand rigorous scrutiny. His testimony is clear, accessible, and grounded in decades of combined experience across supervision, operations, investment management, and compliance leadership.

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Dual-Scope Capability (Liability & Damages): Unlike experts who specialize in only one discipline, Mr. Karabas is qualified to assess both liability (standard of care, supervision, and fiduciary breaches) and damages (financial impact and causation). This allows counsel to retain a single, cohesive voice for the entire case lifecycle, ensuring that damages models are directly supported by the findings of misconduct.

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Industry-Standard Focus: While his perspective is sharpened by his legal education (JD) , his opinions remain strictly grounded in four decades of practical leadership in compliance, operations, and wealth management. He translates complex regulatory concepts into clear, accessible testimony that resonates with arbitrators and juries alike.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​