FINRA Disciplinary Actions

In February 2019, FINRA Bars Registered Individuals Due to Violations of FINRA Rules

April 12, 2019 | Silver Law Group

According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for February 2019, the following individuals were barred from FINRA and cannot currently work for a FINRA brokerage firm for failing to provide FINRA with information it requested or to keep information current with FINRA pursuant to FINRA rules:

NAME	FORMER EMPLOYERS
Arizmendi, Jose	Silber Bennett Financial, Inc
Arizmendi, Jose	TCFG Wealth Management, LLC
Barrick, Tabor	FBL Marketing Services, LLC
Barrick, Tabor	Allstate Financial Services, LLC
Bogdan, David	Fidelity Brokerage
Conklin, Jeffrey	The Huntington Investment Company
Conklin, Jeffrey	Huntington National Bank
Crocker, Sierra	Voya Financial Partners
Crocker, Sierra	Suntrust Bank
Gaston, Frantz	State Farm VP Management Corp
Gaston, Frantz	Frantz Gaston Jr. Insurance Agency
Peter Gomez	NYLife Securities LLC
Peter Gomez	New York Life Insurance Co
Harris, Dionna	Vanguard Marketing Corporation
Henry, Omar	Cetera Advisors LLC
Henry, Omar	JP Morgan Securities LLC
King, Erin	Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC
King, Erin	Wells Fargo Bank
Lin, Linda
Lossing, Christopher	LPL Financial LLC
Lossing, Christopher	Edward Jones
McNeill, Randolph	Buckman, Buckman & Reid, Inc
McNeill, Randolph	Garden State Securities
Minichino, Richard	Next Financial Group, Inc
Minichino, Richard	Wunderlich Securities, Inc
Nicholl, Timothy
Onu, Isaac	NYLife Securities LLC
Onu, Isaac	Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC
Peskar, Denise	Pruco Securities, LLC
Peskar, Denise	The Prudential Insurance Co of America
Schwede, Jaime
Simon, Justin	NYLife Securities LLC
Simon, Justin	Country Capital Management Co
Sredich, Kimberly
Stephens, Dudley	Coastal Equities, Inc
Stephens, Dudley	Prospera Financial Services, Inc
Strawn, Brandon
Tinsley, Sean	Park Avenue Securities LLC
Tinsley, Sean	AXA Advisors, LLC
Trussell, Derrick	PFS Investments Inc
Vailiancourt Jr., Peter	Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC
Wood, Daniel	LPL Financial LLC
Wood, Daniel	Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
Wright, Bryan	Pruco Securities, LLC
Wright, Bryan	The Prudential Insurance Company of America

FINRA makes this information available, in part, to inform investors about potential red flags or problems with certain stockbrokers. If you invested with anyone in this report and have questions about your legal rights, our attorneys will talk with you at no cost to explain your legal rights and about how we can help recover your investment losses through securities arbitration or litigation.

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases through FINRA arbitration or court. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide in securities arbitration to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

FINRA Names Individuals Suspended in February 2019 for Failing to Comply with FINRA Rules

April 12, 2019 | Silver Law Group

According to FINRA Disciplinary actions for February 2019, the following individuals were suspended from FINRA for failing to comply with a FINRA arbitration award or settlement agreement pursuant to FINRA rules:

NAME	FORMER EMPLOYERS
Grossman, Robert	David Lerner Associates, Inc
	National Planning Corporation
Jacobowitz, Oded	Securities America, Inc
	JP Morgan Securities LLC
James, Garland	Garden State Securities, Inc
	Global Arena Capital Corp
Konz, Rachel	Morgan Stanley
	Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC
Moltz, Brian	MML Investors Services, LLC
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc
Park, Thomas	Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC
	Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc
Royster, Brian	HD Investment Services
	LPL Financial LLC
Staff, Phillip	Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc
	Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC

Silver Law Group represents investors in securities and investment fraud cases through FINRA arbitration or court. Our lawyers are admitted to practice in New York and Florida and represent investors nationwide in securities arbitration to help recover investment losses due to stockbroker misconduct. If you have any questions about how your account has been handled, call to speak with an experienced securities attorney. Most cases handled on a contingent fee basis meaning that you do not pay legal fees unless we are successful.

Our lawyers have extensive experience collecting FINRA arbitration awards, prevailing on Motions to Vacate FINRA arbitration awards and using various collection efforts to enforce FINRA awards after they are received.

Laidlaw & Company FINRA Complaint

February 21, 2019 | Silver Law Group

Two-South-Florida-Brokers-in-the-FINRA-Spotlight-for-Making-Inappropriate-Loans-300x199 On May 1, 2018, FINRA Department of Enforcement entered into a settlement via Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC) with Respondent Laidlaw & Company. Without admitting or denying any wrongful acts, Laidlaw consented to a public censure by FINRA, the imposition of a $25,000 fine, as well as agreeing to give FINRA a written statement saying that systems mentioned in the AWC are designed to achieve compliance with “applicable securities laws, regulations, and rules.

FINRA Enforcement alleged that from April 2014 through December 2015, Laidlaw did not establish and maintain a supervisory system and written supervisory procedures (WSPs) designed to ensure that recommendations of leveraged and inverse exchange traded funds (Non-Traditional ETFs) complied with applicable securities laws and FINRA rules.

Non-Traditional ETFs are risky financial products because they are designed to return a multiple of an underlying benchmark or index over the course of a trading session. They are not intended to be held for more than a single trading session. FINRA Regulatory Notice 009-31 states “The performance of Non-Traditional ETFs over periods of time longer than a single trading session can differ significantly from the performance of their underlying or benchmark during the same period of time.”

LPL Financial Fined $2.75M For AML And Complaint Failures

February 11, 2019 | Silver Law Group

FINRA recently fined LPL Financial (CRD #6413) for failing to disclose customer complaints and for failures in the firm’s anti-money laundering (AML) program.

David-Levy-of-Titus-Rockefeller-LLC-Permanently-Barred-from-Broker-Activity-After-Long-Career-of-Suspicious-Activity-300x200 A misunderstanding with FINRA’s rule caused LPL to ignore dozens of customer complaints. The firm incorrectly failed to file and/or update registered representatives U4 or U5 forms to disclose dozens of reportable customer complaints that should have been filed. These claims requested compensatory damages of $5,000 or more. A representative for FINRA stated, “LPL incorrectly construed this phrase to mean that the firm was not required to report any complaint that did not expressly request compensation, even when the customer alleged a sales practice violation that caused a loss of $5,000 or more, and the complaint, when viewed as a whole, made clear that the customer was seeking compensation.” LPL has been the subject of multiple customer complaints frequently filed as securities arbitration claims, claiming significant damages.

LPL also failed to file suspicious activity reports related to its AML program. Because of inaccurate guidance in the firm’s internal processes, including a “fraud case chart,” employees failed to investigate unauthorized attempts to access customer accounts. More than 400 “hacking” attempts of customer accounts went unreported.

FINRA Suspends Robert White For Accepting Cash Gifts From Customer

February 6, 2019 | Silver Law Group

Robert Edward White (CRD #3077959) is a former registered broker whose last employer was Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. (CRD #6694) of East Hampton, NY. His previous employer was 1^st Global Capital Corp. (CRD #30349) of Dallas, TX. No current employment information is available. He has been in the industry since 1998.

White was discharged from the Raymond James Financial Services on 4/3/2017 after it was discovered he had accepted cash gifts from a customer, and failed to disclose the gift to the firm. The firm’s policies prohibited registered representatives from accepting gifts over $100 per year from the firm’s customers. White accepted a total of $58,000 from a single firm customer, after certifying that he understood the policies on annual compliance questionnaires.

After an investigation, FINRA suspended White on 8/10/2018 for four months, effective 8/20/2018. White was also fined $10,000, and signed an Acceptance, Waiver & Consent (AWC) letter, agreeing to all sanctions. His suspension is scheduled to end on 12/19/2018. It is generally against a brokerage firm’s rules for a financial advisor to borrow money from a customer or otherwise accept cash gifts.

Disgraced Broker Kyusun Kim Terminated By Sandlapper

February 6, 2019 | Silver Law Group

Back in October, we told you about Kyusun Kim (CRD #2864085), a broker who was barred by FINRA after it was discovered he approached individuals who were near or at retirement age, and urged them to liquidate their pensions to invest in “alternative investments.” These investments included risky, non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs.)

Are-or-Were-Unsuitable-Non-Traded-REITs-in-Your-Portfolio-300x224-300x224 BrokerCheck now reports that Sandlapper Wealth Management, LLC has discharged him from their employment as of 8/31/2018 after he was barred by FINRA.

The allegations against Kim included wrongful conduct, breaches of fiduciary duty, contract and conduct, violations of securities laws, fraud, financial elder abuse, negligent misrepresentation, inappropriate investments and unsuitable recommendations, as well as one allegation of forged signatures.

FINRA Bars Broker Mohamed Yassin

February 6, 2019 | Silver Law Group

Mohamed Racheed Yassin (CRD #1673281) is a previously registered broker and investment advisor whose last employer was National Securities Corporation (CRD #7569) of Westbury, NY. His previous employers include Morgan Stanley (CRD #149777) of Garden City, NY, UBS Financial Services Inc. (CRD #8174) of Uniondale, NY and Prudential Securities Incorporated (CRD #7471) of New York, NY. He has been in the industry since 1990.

David-Sullivan-Accused-of-Excessive-Trading-on-More-Than-One-Occasion-300x200-300x200 Yassin is the subject of two FINRA disciplinary actions. The first, filed on 10/29/2018, suspends Yassin indefinitely for failure to comply with an arbitration award in a case of breach of promissory notes.

The earlier FINRA action on 8/21/2018 bars Yassin from any and all association with a FINRA member after he failed to respond to a request for information. FINRA then barred Yassin indefinitely from affiliation with any FINRA member effective 11/26/2018.

FINRA Suspends Jeffrey Offen

February 6, 2019 | Silver Law Group

Jeffrey Lance Offen (CRD #2893980) is a former registered broker whose last employer was Craft Capital Management LLC (CRD #171350) of Garden City, NY. His previous employers include Salomon Whitney Financial (CRD #145012) of Farmingdale, NY, Network 1 Financial Securities Inc. (CRD #13577) of Syosett, NY, and Laidlaw & Company (UK) LTD. (CRD #119037) of Melville, NY.

Failure-to-Adequately-Supervise-Prompts-FINRA-Suspension-of-Roman-Luckey-300x200 Seven of Offen’s previous employers have been expelled from FINRA:

Obsidian Financial Group, LLC (CRD#:104255), Woodbury, NY, expelled on 10/16/2013