A customer recently emailed a question to me that touches on an important testable point: statutory disqualification. Here is the question:
I have been charged with felony forgery in the past year. I received probation and did not inform my firm. When my broker-dealer found out, they updated my U5 and terminated me. Now FINRA is investigating me for failing to update my U4 with the felony forgery information. My criminal information is now on BrokerCheck. Can I realistically get hired in the business again?
RESPONSE:
Forgery is directly related to the securities industry and would be a big problem whether a felony or a misdemeanor. There are bad-boy agents out there who will sell a deferred annuity to an unsuspecting senior citizen, then tell the customer to sell the thing and conceal the nasty surrender charge by forging the client's signature on the paperwork to do the annuity sale or switch. Also, so much sensitive information is provided by clients to registered reps that any crimes of dishonesty are major red flags to FINRA. To follow up by failing to update your U-4 with the negative information also hurts, because, in their eyes, it's another blatant form of dishonesty. Then again, if you cooperate with the investigation, maybe they'll suspend you, which is temporary. A bar is also very likely, unfortunately, and--unfortunately--a bar means "game over" in FINRAspeak. Wish I could be more upbeat about the situation, but it doesn't look good. Still, why not wait to see how the investigation ends up. Talk to an attorney who works in this area. More bad news: your state Administrator is likely to also take action if FINRA alerts them of any disciplinary decisions. Be sure to cooperate with all the regulators and try to get some good advice and/or representation by an attorney, who will want his or her retainer upfront. Be sure to be sitting down when they quote their retainer. Cooperating with FINRA can only help, while refusing to cooperate will keep people out of the business permanently every single time. You might want to go to http://www.finra.org/ and look up the enforcement section and discplinary orders. Read through the recent cases that led to temporary suspensions and permanent bars to get a feel of how things generally turn out. I wish the violation were more of a goof-up than two separate acts of dishonesty. "A member, in the conduct of his business shall observe high standards of commercial honor. . . " is the basic creed of FINRA and all the other self-regulatory organizations. Without trust, the system can't function.
Series 7 Exam Help