MICHAEL CORBETT MILNE FINED AND SUSPENDED BY FINRA FOR UNAUTHORIZED TRADES

Michael Corbett Milne, a broker formerly at St. Petersburg, Florida based Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which he consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's (FINRA) findings that he exercised discretion in the customers' accounts by selling out positions that they held in a stock. Mr. Milne had previously discussed with his customers who held shares the strategy of selling this stock if a target price was reached or a downturn seemed likely and generally obtained approval of this approach. However, Milne did not obtain the customers' written authorization or his member firm's approval to exercise discretion, and in most cases he did not contact customers before selling the stock. Mr. Milne, of Ocala, Florida, was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member in any capacity for 15 business days. The suspension was in effect from May 20, 2013 through June 10, 2013.

Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect customers from broker misconduct. If broker-dealers do not establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system, they may be liable to investors for damages flowing from the misconduct. Therefore, investors who have suffered damages due to unauthorized trades or other prohibited activity can bring forth claims to recover losses against broker-dealers like Raymond James Financial Services, which should have prevented Mr. Milne from committing the above described conduct.

Have you suffered losses in your Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. account due to unauthorized by your broker? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is accepting clients with valid claims against Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. stockbrokers who may have engaged in misconduct and caused investors losses.

The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.

PAUL DAVID ARNOLD NAMED IN FINRA COMPLAINT FOR ALLEGEDLY MISAPPROPRIATING ELDER CLIENT'S FUNDS

Paul David Arnold, a former broker with St. Petersburg, FL based Raymond James & Associates, Inc., was named a respondent in a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) complaint alleging that he misappropriated and misused funds totaling $173,600 from an elderly customer. Mr. Arnold allegedly had the customer sign blank checks that Mr. Arnold later made payable to his wife or son without the customer's authorization. The customer allegedly thought the blank checks that Mr. Arnold had him sign were being used to pay the customer's bills, which were not being used for that purpose. The complaint further alleges that Mr. Arnold, of Clearwater, Florida, failed to appear and provide testimony in connection with a FINRA investigation.

Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect customers from broker misconduct. If broker-dealers do not establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system, they may be liable to investors for damages flowing from the misconduct. Therefore, investors who have suffered damages due to broker misappropriations such as those misappropriations allegedly committed by Mr. Arnold can bring forth claims to recover losses against Raymond James & Associates, which could have prevented brokers from committing illegal activity.

Have you suffered losses in your Raymond James & Associates, Inc. or any other brokerage account due to misappropriations by your broker? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation. Mr. Pearce is accepting clients with valid claims against Raymond James & Associates, Inc. stockbrokers who may have engaged in misconduct and caused investors losses.

The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.

RAYMOND JAMES & ASSOCIATES FINED AND CENSURED FOR CARELESSLY RELEASING CLIENT PERSONAL INFORMATION

Raymond James & Associates has been fined $250,000.00 and censured by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for allowing a firm employee to build and maintain an online document management system (DMS) for client records, which was eventually used to reveal client personal information on the internet. After the employee left Raymond James, the individual was no longer authorized to by the firm to receive personally identifiable information (PII) about firm clients. However, a branch office of the firm provided PII of numerous firm clients to the individual, and a second branch office provided the individual with PII of customers and their beneficiaries. FINRA's findings also stated that subsequently, a client complained that her account information and PII were available on the internet. Raymond James had learned that while building and maintaining the DMS, the individual had carelessly posted customer PII to the internet.
FINRA stated that Raymond James contacted the individual, who contacted the search engine to request that the client information be removed, upon notification of the released information. Raymond James then notified regulators of the incident and notified affected clients and their beneficiaries that their PII had been exposed on the internet. The clients and their beneficiaries were offered free credit monitoring and protection services for the incident.
In addition, a firm-approved third-party vendor sent correspondence to clients relating to a cash management account program. Raymond James provided the firms with a list of clients in order to prepare the mailing. The vendor printed and mailed 87,000 mailing envelopes with labels that disclosed each client's account number along with the client's name and address.
Broker-dealers must establish and implement a reasonable supervisory system to protect clients from fraudulent practices by their brokers. If broker-dealers do not establish and/or implement a reasonable supervisory system, they may be liable to investors for damages. According to FINRA, "the firm failed to establish and maintain adequate supervisory systems and procedures to safeguard against the unauthorized disclosure of PII to non-affiliated third parties, and failed to provide customers with opt-out notices prior to disclosing non-public customer information to a non-affiliated third party." Therefore, investors who have suffered damages resulting from such activity can bring forth claims to recover losses against their broker-dealer for failure to take preventative measures.
Have you suffered damages resulting from identity theft while having an account with Raymond James & Associates? If so, call Robert Pearce at the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A. for a free consultation.
The most important of investors' rights is the right to be informed! This Investors' Rights blog post is by the Law Offices of Robert Wayne Pearce, P.A., located in Boca Raton, Florida. For over 30 years, Attorney Pearce has tried, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of disputes involving complex securities, commodities and investment law issues. The lawyers at our law firm are devoted to protecting investors' rights throughout the United States and internationally! Please visit our website, www.secatty.com, post a comment, call (800) 732-2889, or email Mr. Pearce at pearce@rwpearce.com for answers to any of your questions about this blog post and/or any related matter.