CRAIG THISTLETHWAITE Fined and Suspended

CRAIG SHERMAN THISTLETHWAITE (CRAIG THISTLETHWAITE) a former Morgan Stanley of Perrysburg, Ohio, financial advisor, was suspended for 60 days and fined $5000.00 by FINRA over allegations that he exercised unauthorized discretion in clients' accounts and used an unapproved channel to communicate with a client.

On July 24, 2024, without admitting or denying FINRA’s findings, CRAIG THISTLETHWAITE consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that he allegedly exercised discretionary authority to effect trades in two related clients' accounts without obtaining written authorization from the clients and without his member firm having accepted the accounts as discretionary.

FINRA’s findings alleged that CRAIG THISTLETHWAITE caused the firm to maintain incomplete books and records by exchanging business-related communications, including communications concerning securities transactions, with a firm client via text message from his personal cellular device without the firm's approval. Because these communications were sent via an unapproved communications platform, they were not preserved by the firm.

According to a recent article in Financial Advisor, from January 2014 to April 2021, advisor CRAIG THISTLETHWAITE executed a total of 546 trades in two clients' non-discretionary accounts without having obtained the clients' prior authorization. One of the clients alleged that the unauthorized trades, which involved shares of Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce, resulted in damages totaling more than $54 million, according to an award document in an underlying FINRA arbitration, which resulted in an award of more than $11.5 million against Morgan Stanley. According to the article, related FINRA action filed by the client's spouse was settled by FINRA for $4.2 million, according to Thistlethwaite's BrokerCheck record.

According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, available to the public on FINRA’s website, CRAIG THISTLETHWAITE has been in the securities industry for 27 years and was listed with 6 firms. He has 4 disclosures on his FINRA CRD report, one of which was an “Employment Separation After Allegations,” discharging him in January of 2023 from Morgan Stanley following the allegations of, “Concerns related to entering transactions in two related clients' accounts without receiving verbal confirmation immediately beforehand, engaging in written Firm-related communications with the client on his non firm approved device, and purchasing a timeshare from the client without firm approval.”

CRAIG THISTLETHWAITE was with Morgan Stanley in Perrysburg, Ohio from 06/01/2009 - 02/16/2023.

If you’ve experienced financial losses due to the actions or recommendations of the former Morgan Stanley financial advisor, CRAIG THISTLETHWAITE, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.

Soreide Law Group represents our clients nationwide before FINRA on a contingency fee basis, no fee to you if no recovery.