Broker Permanently Barred

FINRA Bars Broker Kyusun Kim After Multiple Customer Complaints Of Unsuitability

October 12, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Kyusun Kim (CRD #2864085) is a registered investment advisor and previously registered broker, last employed and registered with Sandlapper Securities, LLC, of San Diego, CA. (He is also known as “Kyu Sun Kim” or “Kenny Kim.”) Kim’s previous employers include Independent Financial Group, LLC (CRD #7717), Lincoln Financial Advisors Corporation (CRD #3978), both also of San Diego, and The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company (CRD #2580) of Fort Wayne, IN. He began in the industry in 1997.

Kim is the subject of 23 customer disputes dating back to 2007. One dispute was denied; nine are pending, and the remaining thirteen are settled, with one settlement rescinded. The total for Kim’s twelve settled cases is $2,995,443. His nine pending complaints include requested damages totaling $2,950,000.

New Jersey Broker Richard Grant Cody May Be Facing Serious Penalties on elderfinancialfraudattorneys.com Between 2008 and 2015, Kim was accused of soliciting the business of individuals who were retired or near retirement age, and recommended that they liquidate their pension plans and 401(k) to invest with him in so-called “alternative investments,” including things like non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs.) Many of these customers had little or no investment experience, and were unfamiliar with these types of securities. The higher risk involved made them inconsistent with the more conservative objectives. Kim failed to disclose the extra risk involved in many of these securities, and most suffered substantial financial losses.

James Edward Knee

September 11, 2018 | Silver Law Group

James Edward Knee (CRD #1852920) is a former registered broker and investment advisor who was last employed with Voya Financial Advisors, Inc. (CRD #2882) of Concord, NH. He was previously employed by Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. (CRD #6363), Investors Capital Corp. (CRD #30613) and Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. (CRD #39543), all of Concord. He has been in the industry since 1988.

Knee is the subject of nine disclosures. One is regarding his discharge from Voya Financial Advisors, one is an unknown pending investigation in the state of New Hampshire, and one is a regulatory action initiated by FINRA. Of the six customer disputes, three were denied and three were settled.

South-Florida-Broker-Brian-Michael-Berger-Permanently-Barred-by-FINRA-300x200-300x200 FINRA barred Knee on 05/18/2018 after he refused to appear for on-the-record testimony. He was the subject of allegations of funds misappropriation during his tenures with both Voya and Ameriprise. After signing an Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) letter, Knee was indefinitely barred in all capacities.

FINRA Bars Former Raymond James Broker Stephen Murray After Allegations, Tax Lien

September 5, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Stephen Allen Murray (CRD #343722) is a former registered broker and investment advisor who was last employed by Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (CRD #705) of Palm Beach Gardens, FL. He was previously employed by Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc. (CRD #4161) of Jupiter, FL and First Financial Equity Corporation (CRD #16507) of Scottsdale, AZ. No current employment information is available. He began in the industry since 1973.

Murray is the subject of 10 different disclosures, dating back to 1982. The most recent, a regulatory action, occurred after he failed to respond to a FINRA request for information. Three letters were issued regarding the suspension, and Murray did not respond to any of them. He became permanently barred from associating with any FINRA representative as of 8/7/2018. No additional information is available.

The next disclosure was filed on 05/26/2017, a customer dispute alleging “churning, unauthorized trading; negligence, violation of FINRA rules . . .breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty. Activity date is: 6/2010 thru 4/2017.” The customer requested damages of $100,000, and the case was settled for $60,000.

Laidlaw Broker Paul Prestia Barred By FINRA After $160K In Tax Liens

September 5, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Paul Joseph Prestia (CRD #4477149) is a former registered broker whose last employer was Laidlaw & Company (UK) Ltd. (CRD #119037) of Melville, NY. His previous employers include Network 1 Financial Securities Inc. (CRD #13577) of Huntington Station NY and MidAmerica Financial Services, Inc. (CRD #47351.) No current employment information is available. He began in the industry in 2003.

Thomas-Hogle-Barred-by-FINRA-After-Alleged-Lack-of-Cooperation-With-Investigation-300x200 Prestia has been barred by FINRA in all capacities after he failed to respond to a request for information. After receiving a Notice of Suspension and Suspension from Association letters dated April 25, 2018, and May 21, 2018, and failing to respond three months after his suspension FINRA barred him indefinitely.

Prior to the FINRA action, Prestia’s other disclosures are four tax liens:

FINRA Bars Broker Meaghan Johnson After Allegations in Eight Customer Complaints Totaling $1.3M in Damages

September 5, 2018 | Silver Law Group

South-Florida-Broker-Brian-Michael-Berger-Permanently-Barred-by-FINRA-1024x683-300x200 Former broker and investment advisor Meaghan Marie Johnson (CRD #5754123) has been barred by FINRA after customers filed eight complaints in 2017. She was previously employed by Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC (CRD #2881) of McLean, VA, and briefly by Signator Investors, Inc. (CRD #468) of Vienna, VA. She resigned from Northwestern on 01/19/2017, and began as a registered representative in the financial industry in 2010.

Johnson was, at the time of her resignation, under an internal review by Northwestern after client complaints filed towards her colleague. Multiple allegations of client signature forgery brought questions of Johnson’s potential for involvement in the same actions. The eight customer complaints were filed after Johnson left the firm. The total amount of these eight complaints is $1,314,616.13.

FINRA sent two requests to Johnson for documents and related information, but she did not comply and failed to provide the requested information. FINRA later sent a request to Johnson to appear in a hearing for on-the-record testimony on April 13, 2018. On April 12, 2018, Johnson refused, informing FINRA staff that she would not appear for testimony on the requested date, nor in the future.

The SEC Has Proposed New Regulations for Fiduciaries

August 22, 2018 | Silver Law Group

What the new code of conduct rule entails and how it could affect elderly investors

Up until earlier this year, the Department of Labor had a rule in effect for fiduciaries that specified that they couldn’t earn commissions unless the advice they offered was in the best interests of their clients. In addition, the rule mandated that they could only earn reasonable compensation and must be transparent about this compensation as well as the products they sell.

However, in March, a federal appeals court struck down the DOL’s rule. Recently the SEC proposed their own rule – called Regulation Best Interest or Reg BI – that aims to address three areas:

Former Broker Ernest Romer Barred By FINRA After Two Investigations

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

Ernest Julius Romer III (CRD #2311741) is a former registered broker and investment broker, last employed with CoreCap Investments, Inc. (CRD #37068) of Sterling Heights, MI. Previous employers include L.M. Kohn & Company (CRD #27913) and Leonard & Company (CRD #36527), both of Sterling Heights, and Comerica Securities (CRD #17079) of Warren, MI. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1993, and has a total of 36 disclosures in his FINRA record

Romer is currently the subject of two investigations by the state of Michigan into allegations from two clients that he “stole” money from them. The first was filed on 8/28/2017, the second on 9/1/2017. Both are accompanied by correlating FINRA arbitration cases.

The State of Michigan has also barred Romer from working as a broker in the state of Michigan and permanently revoked his license, and levied fines of $1.5 million against him.

FINRA Bars Broker Scott Palmer

August 13, 2018 | Silver Law Group

FINRA has barred former financial advisor and broker Scott Palmer (CRD #817586) after multiple customer disputes. His last employer was Janney Montgomery Scott, LLC (CRD #463) of Hackensack, NJ, from 03/02/2007 to 06/13/2017. He was allowed to resign after “Loss of Confidence related to complaint disclosure history.”

Palmer is not currently registered as a broker or investment advisor, and no record of current employment is available. He is barred from any and all affiliations with any FINRA member firm, in any capacity.

Palmer was previously employed with:

FINRA Bars Broker John Maccoll After Fraud Allegations

August 10, 2018 | Silver Law Group

South-Florida-Broker-Brian-Michael-Berger-Permanently-Barred-by-FINRA-1024x683-300x200 Former UBS broker John Maccoll (CRD #839441) has been indefinitely barred from affiliation with any FINRA member in any capacity as of 07/02/2018.

His most recent employer was UBS Financial Services Inc. (CRD #8174) of Birmingham, MI. Previously, he was employed with Morgan Stanley DW Inc. (CRD #7556) of Purchase, NY, E. F. Hutto n & Company Inc. (CRD #235), Loeb Partners (CRD #7534) and Hornblower, Weeks, Noyes & Trask Incorporated (CRD #7394). No current employment information is available. Maccoll has been in the industry since 1977.

On 3/15/2018, UBS discharged Maccoll after he refused to cooperate with the firm’s investigation into allegations he misappropriated money from a client. He later disclosed that he had misappropriated money from a total of 13 clients.

FINRA Bars Gregory LeVine For Failure To Respond

August 10, 2018 | Silver Law Group

FINRA has barred former registered broker Gregory Alan LeVine (CRD #2401300) indefinitely on 04/09/2018, after he failed to respond to a request for information. LeVine is currently not registered with any FINRA member. His last employer was First Allied Advisory Services, (CRD #32444) of Fort Lauderdale, FL, where he is listed as currently employed, but not registered.

LeVine’s previous employers include:

Commonwealth Financial Network, (CRD #8032) of Fort Lauderdale, FL, from 05/22/2009 to 07/16/2012