Former California Broker Barred by FINRA and Ordered to Disgorge Unlawful Profits of $66,771

Sean Anthony Spearman (CRD #2945116, Redondo Beach, California)

was barred by FINRA member and ordered to disgorge unlawful profits of $66,771 for allegedly liquidating a position held by a client of his member firm to meet margin requirements; but instead of selling the shares to the market and maximizing the return to his client, Spearman bought the shares into his proprietary account and sold to the street on the same day.

FINRA's findings stated that Spearman gave the client a price near the market low and failed to inform the client how the trades were done and the basis for the pricing. By these actions and unknown to the client, Spearman made a profit of approximately $21,000 at the client’s expense. The clent’s principals later deposited stock with the firm, some of which was sold to cover the client’s margin debit. Spearman had complete discretion over when and how much of the stock to sell. Spearman again traded in a way to benefit himself at the client's expense. Rather than sell the shares into the market, he bought a block of the shares into one of his proprietary accounts at a price that was significantly below the market price for the day and then sold the shares for a profit of $45,771. Spearman again failed to inform the client how the trades were done and the basis for the pricing, and did not disclose the profit to the client.

Also, FINRA's findings stated that Spearman periodically executed customer sale orders by buying the position in his proprietary account at the market price, holding it and selling it to the market later the same day or the next day. For client purchases, Spearman periodically purchased from the street at market price and then sold to clients from his proprietary accounts. Clients were charged the alleged market price at the time when the order was placed and also were charged a commission. Spearman did not disclose to clients any profits made in those situations that involved exchange-traded securities, and did not disclose any of the markups or markdowns to his clients or his firm.
(FINRA Case #2010023220501)

Sean Spearman is no longer registered with any firm.The following is a list of the firms he was previously registered:

08/2014 - 12/2014 MARTINEZ-AYME SECURITIES (CRD# 109838) - MIAMI, FL
03/2011 - 08/2014 ASCENDIANT CAPITAL MARKETS, LLC (CRD# 152912) - IRVINE, CA
04/2007 - 02/2011 BMA SECURITIES (CRD# 108219) - IRVINE, CA
01/2004 - 04/2007 BROCKINGTON SECURITIES, INC. (CRD# 37438) - RONKONKOMA, NY
FINRA expelled the firm in 07/2010
01/2003 - 11/2003 J. ALEXANDER SECURITIES, INC. (CRD# 7809) - LOS ANGELES, CA
09/2001 - 02/2002 THE CAMELOT GROUP, INC. (CRD# 31091) - FT LAUDERDALE, FL
11/2000 - 09/2001 GRANITE FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. (CRD# 44732) - SAN DIEGO, CA

This ends the information obtained from FINRA's March 2015 Disciplinary Actions.

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