THEODORE W BYRER Suspended by FINRA

THEODORE WILLIAM BYRER (THEODORE W BYRER, TED BYRER) was registered as a broker with MORGAN STANLEY of Indianapolis, Indiana, from 11/11/2013 - 04/20/2023. He was most recently registered with INTERNATIONAL ASSETS ADVISORY, INC of Westfield, Indiana, from 05/09/2023 - 09/17/2024.

According to his BrokerCheck CRD report, dated 7/23/2026, THEODORE W BYRER was suspended for 14 months. The report states that considering Ted Byrer's financial status, no monetary sanction was imposed. Without admitting or denying FINRA’s findings, Byrer consented to the sanction and to the entry of findings that he allegedly willfully violated Exchange Act Rule 15I-1(a)(1) by recommending an options trading strategy to four retail customers, two married couples, that was not in their best interest or suitable for them.

FINRA’s findings stated that THEODORE W BYRER allegedly recommended that the customers engage in an options trading strategy involving purchases of out-of-the-money puts where the underlying assets were equity index funds. According to the FINRA report, none of the customers owned shares of the equity index funds that underlay the recommended put options contracts. Allegedly, Byrer recommended the customers purchase put options contracts that were further out-of-the-money or closer in time to the expiration date in increasing quantities and frequency. With one of the couples, THEODORE W BYRER's recommendation resulted in almost $400,000 in put option losses and generated over $62,000 in commissions. With respect to the other married couple, Byrer’s alleged recommendations to this couple resulted in over $360,000 in put options losses and generated over $217,000 in commissions.

FINRA’s findings also stated that THEODORE W BYRER allegedly made false entries in his member firm's customer contact system and mismarked solicited trades as unsolicited. The findings also included that Byrer allegedly exercised discretion without prior written authorization when entering trades in four customer accounts.

The FINRA report also alleges, THEODORE W BYRER inaccurately stated that he did not exercise discretion in any customer account in annual compliance questionnaires submitted to the firm.  Additionally, FINRA found that Byrer allegedly used unapproved personal text messages to communicate with customers about firm business, sent promissory and unwarranted communications through some of those messages and failed to include the requisite disclosures related to options recommendations.

According to FINRA, THEODORE W BYRER's alleged use of an unapproved text messaging device caused his firm not to comply with applicable retention rules related to communications. Also, Byrer allegedly inaccurately stated that he did not use unapproved communications channels on annual compliance questionnaires submitted to the firm.

According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, available to the public on FINRA’s website, THEODORE W BYRER has 24 years of experience in the securities industry and has been listed with 5 firms.  Byrer has 7 disclosures on his FINRA CRD report.  One is the “Regulatory” disclosure suspending him from the industry. There is an “Employment Separation After Allegations” dated 3/23/2023 discharging him from MORGAN STANLEY following the allegations of, “Allegations related to entering transactions in clients' accounts without receiving verbal confirmation immediately beforehand and engaging in off-platform written communications about Firm business.” There is a “Customer Dispute” dated 9/6/2023 which settled for $20,000.00 following the allegations of, “TRUSTEE VERBALLY ALLEGED CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING THE PURCHASE OF VARIOUS METALS IN THE ACCOUNT WERE NOT AUTHORIZED.”  The other two disclosures are “Financial.”

Soreide Law Group posted the following article to our blog dated January 6, 2025:

Theodore Byrer Facing Morgan Stanley Client Dispute - Securities Lawyer

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