CURTIS ILE Issued Suspension By FINRA

The Financial industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) announced that it has suspended Sigma Financial Corporation securities broker Curtis Ile (CRD#: 4009787, Mount Carmel, Illinois). Ile evidently mismarked order tickets, exercised discretion improperly, and failed to review information before making recommendations. The suspension, effective June 3, 2019 to December 2, 2019, comes by way of Ile’s consent. Indeed, Ile signed a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (“AWC”) #: 2017054678101 on May 22, 2019, which FINRA accepted May 31, 2019. Here are some critical details about the incident:

Curtis Ile Lies About Soliciting Investments From Clients To Contravene Sigma’s Policy

First, FINRA says that Curtis Ile, who worked for Sigma Financial Corporation from 2015 to 2018, was responsible for complying with FINRA Rule 4511. However, he violated this rule.  FINRA Rule 4511 sets forth a requirement that securities firms registered with FINRA preserve books and records. Brokers including Ile fail to comply with both FINRA Rule 4511 and FINRA Rule 2010 by causing the firm to hold false or inaccurate books and records. In Ile’s case, he mismarked 215 order tickets from June 2015 through July 2018.
Those inaccuracies, which pertained to 45 Sigma Financial Corporation client accounts, refer to Ile labeling the trades as unsolicited. In fact, Sigma Financial Corporation discharged Ile for this reason. FINRA determined that Ile solicited the trades but marked them unsolicited because Sigma Financial Corporation did not allow solicited orders. It is possible Ile urged customers to make trades that they otherwise wouldn't have.

Ile Fails To Review OTC Equity Issuer Information Before Making Investment Recommendations

Secondly, FINRA says that Curtis Ile violated FINRA Rule 2114 concerning OTC equities. This rule requires securities brokers to review OTC equity issuers’ financial statements and business information. Plus, the rule mandates that securities brokers decide whether thatinformation is sufficient if making investment recommendations. This is supposed to happen before the firms and brokers recommend for clients to “purchase or sell short” OTC equities. Here, Ile did not execute reviews of investment information before telling clients to buy OTC equities. Because of this, from 2015 to 2018, Ile potentially made unsuitable recommendations in connection with 16 clients’ OTC equity purchases.

Curtis Ile Exercises Discretion Without Client Authorization In 17 Clients’ Accounts

Finally, the findings show that Curtis Ile broke NASD Rule 2510(b) and FINRA Rule 2010 by exercising discretion with authorization. Mainly, securities brokers including Ile are prohibited under NASD Rule 2510(b) from exercising discretion without two types of authorization. Specifically, the securities firm and the client both have to authorize the broker’s exercise of discretion for it to be valid. Apparently, Ile made unauthorized trades in 17 Sigma Financial Corporation clients’ accounts between June 2015 and July 2018.

For these reasons, from June 3, 2019 to December 2, 2019, Curtis Ile cannot, under any circumstances, associate with a securities firm registered with FINRA. Suffered losses by investing with Sigma Financial Corporation broker Curtis Ile? If so, contact Soreide Law Group at (888) 760-6552 and speak with experienced counsel about a possible recovery of your investment losses. Soreide Law Group represents clients on a contingency fee basis and advances all costs. The firm has recovered millions of dollars for investors who have suffered losses due to misconduct of brokers and brokerage firms.