FINRA Suspends James Edward Rooney Jr. for Unauthorized Transactions

James Edward Rooney Jr., of Carrollton, Texas, was fined by FINRA a total of $75,000, suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for a total of two years and was suspended in any supervisory capacity for 18 months.  FINRA alleges that Rooney engaged in private securities transactions involving installment contracts without providing prior written notice his member firm. The findings stated that Rooney recommended the installment contract to his client without a reasonable basis for believing it to be a suitable investment. Rooney allegedly did not conduct a reasonable investigation into the company offering the installment plan contracts or the contracts themselves.  Rooney sold the product expecting to receive a commission. The findings also stated that Rooney made negligent misrepresentations of material fact to the customer. Although Rooney may not have known that his representations regarding the organization and the features of the contract were false, a simple investigation would have uncovered numerous red flags. Rooney also presented oversimplified, incomplete and misleading sales materials to his customer when soliciting the installment contract. The findings also included that Rooney failed to adequately supervise other registered representative’s sales of the installment contracts. (FINRA Case #2009019042402)

If you invested money with James Edward Rooney Jr., you may be entitled to recover some of your investment losses. Please call our securities law firm toll free at (800) 975-4345 to speak to an attorney to find out how we may be able to help you recover some of your investment losses through FINRA arbitration.