Florida Rep Fined and Suspended by FINRA

 

 

submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 20 business days. The fine must be paid either immediately upon Dayton’s reassociation with a FINRA member firm following his suspension, or prior to the filing of any application or request for relief from any statutory disqualification, whichever is earlier.

 

Without admitting or denying the findings, Dayton consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that he failed to properly review and supervise a joint brokerage account application shared by a registered representative employed at his firm and a firm customer, and approved the opening of the account even though it violated firm policies and procedures that prohibited such joint accounts. The findings stated that as a registered principal of the firm, Dayton was responsible for supervising the opening of new accounts for a registered representative and periodically reviewing the accounts the registered representative handled to ensure that they were in compliance with the firm’s policies and procedures.

 

The findings also stated that Dayton admitted that he signed and approved the application for the joint brokerage account for the registered representative and the customer as both a field supervisor and registered principal. Dayton acknowledged

that firm policies and procedures prohibited joint accounts between customers and any

registered representatives of the firm unless they were family members.

 

The findings also included that Dayton stated that he could grant approval for joint accounts between non-family customers and the firm’s registered representatives under exceptional circumstances but that was not done in this instance.

FINRA found that Dayton admitted that he did not examine any documentation prior to the opening of the joint account. Dayton stated that since he was the registered principal, it was his responsibility to verify the completeness of the application, to ensure that the investment objectives and risk tolerance were acceptable, and that all required signatures were included on the application. Dayton admitted that he did not review the application carefully and acknowledged that the joint brokerage account application he approved was in violation of firm prohibitions contained in the firm’s policies and procedures. FINRA also found that Dayton failed to adequately supervise the registered representative who handled the joint account.

The suspension was in effect from December 5, 2011, through January 3, 2012.

(FINRA Case #2010021224802 )

This concludes the information obtained on FINRA's website.