There will be a major revamping of suitability mandates effective July 9, 2012, that has some in the broker-dealer world worried about much broader obligations to oversee customer accounts and investment strategies, writes Dan Jamieson in an article from InvestmentNews.com, July 5, 2012. There will be a rule which requires brokers to perform reasonable diligence on products, understand those […]

In a press-release dated July 2nd, 2012, from their website, The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced a pilot program specifically designed for large arbitration cases for claims of $10 million or more. This program enables parties to customize the administrative process to better suit special needs of the larger case and allows them to bypass certain FINRA […]

  Brett Henderson (CRD #2420629, Registered Representative, North Salt Lake City, Utah) was fined $95,000, which includes restitution of $82,505 payable to customers, and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 11 months. Henderson consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings without admitting or denying the allegations, […]

  Sean K. Hannon (CRD #4296260, Registered Representative, Cary, North Carolina)   has submitted an Offer of Settlement in which he was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Hannan, without admitting or denying FINRA's allegations, consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he failed to provide investigative […]

FINRA announced Thursday that Bank of America Merrill Lynch was fined $2.8 million  for supervisory lapses that led to its overcharging customers $32 million for the past eight years. According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) and the Bank of America Corp., Merrill Lynch has repaid 95,000 customers who were charged unwarranted fees due to computer coding issues […]

John Herman Fick (CRD #4197483, Registered Representative, Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina) was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 18 months. This fine must be paid either upon Fick’s reassociation with a FINRA member firm after his suspension, or before the filing of any application or request for relief from any statutory […]

  Gary Lee Cousino (CRD #726486, Registered Representative, Mackinac Island, Michigan)   has been barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Without admitting or denying the findings, Cousino consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he failed to respond to FINRA requests for information regarding its investigation of […]

  Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P. dba Edward Jones (CRD #250, St. Louis, Missouri)   was censured, fined $55,000 and ordered to pay $13,231.52, plus interest, in restitution to customers. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that in corporate fixed income […]

 Joel William Carlson (CRD #2844760, Registered Representative, Vadnais Heights, Minnesota)  was barred from association with any FINRA member in any capacity. Carlson consented to the described sanction and to the entry of findings that he solicited his member firm’s customers to give him a total of at least $734,000, fraudulently misrepresenting to the customers that he would […]