RRBDLAW.com: New FINRA Cases

Sep 2, 2009 4:03 pm

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An irreverent Wall Street Blog
by Bill Singer Subscribe to RSS Feed: Blog Home | Past Entries New FINRA Cases Analyzed at RRBDLaw.com Written: September 2, 2009

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Veteran regulatory lawyer Bill Singer's analysis of recent FINRA cases is now online at http://RRBDLAW.com.  Make sure to click on the links to read Bill's commentary about these matters and more.

Jason Erik Stephens permitted a trainee to complete portions of the required continuing education online courses for his Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation on his behalf.  In an scheme to hold onto his title of “financial planner,” John Kenneth Scheidler had firm representatives assist him in submitting a plan ostensibly for each of them, for which they each agreed to pay $300, to be repaid by Scheidler. Scheidler completed the plan paperwork for each representative, submitted the completed plans and received a total of $400 from his firm for submitting the plans.  Press reports indicate that FINRA has designs on becoming a larger self-regulatory organization -- perhaps into investment advisory and financial planning jurisdictions?  Is this the opening salvo against the Financial Planning Coalition's effort to create its own SRO?  Are the dogs beginning to mark their turf? Shawn Steven Keller stole computer monitors and a telephone worth $4,400 from his member firm and pawned them for cash. Keller failed to respond to FINRA requests for information.  Don't think times are tough?  Looks like even brokerage firms need to start bolting down their equipment.  Of course, that's not going to be much comfort to already wary investors. Shortly before resigning from her firm to begin working at another member firm, Donna Rae Jordan deleted certain customer telephone numbers and made inaccurate updates to other customer telephone numbers to slow down other registered representatives at the firm who Jordan believed would be assigned to call her customers after she resigned.  Industry outsiders often have little idea about the dog-eat-dog atmosphere at many branch office around the country.  Here is yet another example of the fun and games that individual stockbrokers play in order to protect their client lists from poaching (or, as the Broker Dealer would argue, to wrongfully interfere with their employer's access to such data).  Either way, this is a long festering wound that needs to be addressed. Gail Sylvenia Frick was provided with a money order by a customer in order to open an account at her member firm on behalf of the customer’s children. Unfortunately, Frick misplaced the money order and decided to deposit $1,100 of her own personal funds into an account at her firm for the benefit of the customer’s children without notifying the customer or the firm.  There is an old line that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions (and the corollary that no good deed goes unpunished).  See how Frick's decison to take dollars out of her own pocket resulted in a fine and suspension.

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Sep 2, 2009 8:12 pm

I won’t lie. The Donna Jordan story made me chuckle.

Sep 2, 2009 8:51 pm

Bill, how about a few comments from you on the “Advisorcheck” thread in the other section?  Most of us feel it’s a sham and extortion of brokers.  Just curious what an expert would have to say.

Sep 2, 2009 9:21 pm

Yeah Bill, your comments on Advisorcheck would be appreciated…