Shareholder Spotlight : D.A. Davidson & Co – Supervising the Shit

By /

D.A. Davidson & Co isn’t a wholesome family brokerage guarding your pension; it’s a firm with a history of fines, failures and flimsy ethics. Founded in 1935, they’ve ballooned into a billion-dollar operator wrapped in small-town charm. Scratch that shine and the smell of censure seeps through. From botched supervision to client overcharges and data breaches, they’ve built a record that belongs in a rogues’ gallery, not a brochure.

They pitch stability and stewardship. What they deliver is a trail of warnings from regulators and complaints from customers who learned too late that trust was optional. And now they’re at it again – with a $108 million stake in Cummins Inc, the diesel polluter fined billions for emissions cheating. Another investor neck-deep in soot pretending it’s all diversification.

The Regulatory Record

The SEC and FINRA have spent years swatting at D.A. Davidson like a persistent fly. In 2019 they were censured for breaching fiduciary duty, flogging mutual-fund share classes that padded fees and left clients short. Back in 2010 they copped a $375 000 penalty for a data breach that exposed nearly 200 000 customer accounts. Earlier still, they faced reprimands for false statements in municipal bond offerings and a string of smaller fines for sloppy reporting.

The pattern never changes. Supervisory gaps, client gouging, sloppy controls. They pay up, issue a statement, and move on as if integrity were a quarterly option. The fines are small change in the bigger machine.

The Client Fallout

Arbitration records tell the rest. Investors alleging fraud, negligence and unsuitable trades. Brokers suspended for unauthorised discretion. A culture that treats customers as throughput, not people. One case topped a million-dollar award for mishandled accounts. Others show churning, unauthorised orders, or plain indifference.

These aren’t isolated mistakes – they’re a habit. BrokerCheck lists regulatory actions, civil proceedings, customer disputes. Every page another crack in the myth of reliability.

The Cummins Connection

D.A. Davidson’s latest headline holding is roughly 329 000 Cummins shares, worth about $108 million. That’s not stewardship, that’s sponsorship. Cummins’ record of cheating emissions tests and greenwashing diesel is no secret. Yet Davidson props it up, pocketing dividends from pollution. It’s the same game – preach responsibility, profit from rot.

The Broader Decay

Look wider and the picture’s clear. D.A. Davidson isn’t an outlier; it’s the template. Compliance lapses, data leaks, customer abuse, polluter investment – and still they’re trusted with public money. Wall Street calls it tradition. TCAP calls it white collar filth.

Until regulators start jailing executives instead of fining firms, nothing changes. Davidson will keep trading trust for commission, Cummins will keep burning, and the rest will keep pretending the system works.

Christ, what a racket.

Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project

Sources

Scroll to Top