Securities Arbitration Lawyers BlogFINRA Suspends Robert White For Accepting Cash Gifts From Customer
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 1st 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.
Two customer disputes were filed in May of 2018, both alleging overpayment of commissions, totaling $2,010,939.01. These disputes are currently listed as “pending.” According to FINRA documentation, Chong was under review for these disputes, which were related to large, institutional trades, and his registration with Raymond James was voluntarily terminated on May 22, 2018. He is not currently associated with any FINRA-member firm.