Enforcement Actions
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
CASES OF NOTE
2011
NOTE: Stipulations of Fact and Consent to Penalty (SFC); Offers of Settlement (OS); and Letters of Acceptance Waiver, and Consent (AWC) are entered into by Respondents without admitting or denying the allegations, but consent is given to the described sanctions & to the entry of findings. Additionally, for AWCs, if FINRA has reason to believe a violation has occurred and the member or associated person does not dispute the violation, FINRA may prepare and request that the member or associated person execute a letter accepting a finding of violation, consenting to the imposition of sanctions, and agreeing to waive such member's or associated person's right to a hearing before a hearing panel, and any right of appeal to the National Adjudicatory Council, the SEC, and the courts, or to otherwise challenge the validity of the letter, if the letter is accepted. The letter shall describe the act or practice engaged in or omitted, the rule, regulation, or statutory provision violated, and the sanction or sanctions to be imposed.
December 2011
James Gregory Hogue
AWC/2009019276103/December 2011
Hogue e improperly allowed the branch operations manager of his member firm to complete his Firm Element Continuing Education (CE) proficiency tests.
James Gregory Hogue: Fined $5,000; Suspended 30 days
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Continuing Education
Jared Robert Lynch
AWC/2011029347801/December 2011
Lynch improperly created an answer key for a state long term care (LTC) insurance CE examination and distributed the answer keys to an employee of the member firm. Lynch sent an email to a registered representative at the firm and attached the study guide for an eight-hour required course and exam, consisting of 50 multiple choice questions and a blank answer sheet; a third-party educational testing company appeared to have created all the materials. In the email, Lynch stated he would have the answers soon and later provided the registered representative with a copy of the blank answer sheet with the answers to the 50 questions circled by hand and the words “master copy” written on the top of the page. 
Jared Robert Lynch: FIned $5,000; Suspended 60 days
Tags:  Testing    Email     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
November 2011
Christopher James Neri
AWC/2009021029624/November 2011

Neri improperly created an answer key for a state insurance LTC CE examination when he sat with a registered representative taking the CE examination and provided the registered representative with his opinion as to the correct answers to certain questions, recorded the answers the registered representative selected on a piece of paper, retained the answer key for several months and then transferred the answer key to an email.

Neri improperly distributed that answer key to other employees of his member firm when he sent that email to other wholesalers of the firm; after a wholesaler emailed Neri to inquire whether he had answers for the CE test, Neri sent the email to other wholesalers of the firm. On multiple occasions, Neri improperly assisted registered representatives outside of the firm taking the LTC CE examination by referring to the answer key and providing them with some or all of the examination answers; either in person or over the phone, Neri provided the registered representatives with his opinion as to the correct answers to some or all of the examination questions without reference to the answer key while they were taking the exam. The findings also included that on multiple occasions, Neri took the LTC CE examination, in whole or part, for registered representatives outside of the firm by meeting with registered representatives in their offices, sitting at their computers and either answering all the questions himself without assistance from the representative, or the representative would provide some of the answers, which Neri would enter then into the computer.

Christopher James Neri : Fined $5,000; Suspended 90 days
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment
As concise an explanation of these LTC CE answer key cases as I have seen. Explains the variations and the genesis. 
Steven Lenard Jessup Jr.
AWC/2009021029623/November 2011

Jessup improperly requested and received an answer key to a state LTC CE exam and improperly distributed the answer key to a registered representative outside of his member firm. Jessup was an external wholesaler who marketed an insurance product to financial advisors at financial services firms. Certain states began requiring financial advisors to successfully complete a LTC CE course before selling LTC insurance products to retail customers. Jessup’s firm authorized its wholesalers to give financial advisors vouchers from a company, which the financial advisors could use to take CE exams through the company without charge. Firm employees created and circulated answer keys to the company’s CE exam for various states.

The suspension was in effect from October 3, 2011, through November 2, 2011. (FINRA Case #)

Steven Lenard Jessup Jr. : Fined $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Virginia Bussard Barausky (Principal)
AWC/2009021029622/November 2011
Barausky improperly created an answer key for a state insurance long-term care (LTC) continuing education (CE) examination and improperly distributed the answer key to other registered representatives of the member firm. Barausky forwarded another answer key to wholesalers within the firm.
Virginia Bussard Barausky (Principal): Fined $5,000; Suspended 60 days
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Continuing Education
October 2011
Diana Y. Tao
AWC/2011027996201/October 2011
Associated Person Tao took the Series 6—Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Limited Representative Qualifications Examination—and received a failing grade.Tao altered the Proctor’s Report to reflect that she had received a failing score higher than the failing score she actually received; Tao presented the altered report to her manager.
Diana Y. Tao : Fined $5,000; Suspended 2 months
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment
Truly, there's some stuff I just can't make up.  You fail the test and then you doctor the computer results to show your superior that you failed -- but just not by as much as you really did?  I mean, geez, what's the point? 
Marcus Patrick Camp (Principal)
AWC/2009019276101/October 2011
Camp was the operations manager for branch offices of his member firm and was responsible for supervising registered representatives’ timely completion of the internal, computer-based Firm Element Continuing Education program. Camp completed the required Firm Element Continuing Education program proficiency tests for registered representatives and improperly assisted other registered representatives by providing them with answers. Camp offered to assist or take the proficiency tests for additional firm registered representatives but they rejected his offer.
Marcus Patrick Camp (Principal): FIned $10,000; Barred in Principal capacity only; Suspended 6 months in all capacities.
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Continuing Education
Stephen Christopher Montgomery (Principal)
AWC/2009021029707/October 2011
Montgomery was employed as an insurance consultant at his member firm, and in that capacity, assisted financial advisors with selling insurance products, including long-term care (LTC) insurance to their clients. Certain states implemented new LTC continuing education (CE) requirements that obligated financial advisors to complete an LTC CE course and exam before selling LTC insurance products to customers who resided in those states. In order to assist financial advisors in obtaining this requirement, Montgomery requested and received an answer key to a state insurance LTC CE examination, and distributed it to financial advisors at his firm through emails.
Stephen Christopher Montgomery (Principal): Fined $5,000; Suspended 45 days in all capacities
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
September 2011
Matthew Sunghoon Kim
AWC/2010023500401/September 2011
During the Series 7 test, Kim took unscheduled bathroom breaks lasting between three and eight minutes long, and during these breaks, he reviewed notes pertaining to the examination that he had previously concealed in one of the bathroom stalls.
Matthew Sunghoon Kim : Barred
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
August 2011
Colby R. Swartz
OS/2008016187201/August 2011

Swartz reported to his member firm that he passed the Series 7 examination when, in fact, he received a failing score.

Swartz submitted to his firm a document that he represented was a photocopy of his score report, which reflected a passing score. Swartz knew, or should have known, that the documents he submitted to his firm were neither the original nor a true copy of the score report as he received it from the testing center, and that they falsely represented that he had passed the examination when he had not.

Colby R. Swartz: Barred
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Dennis Osborn Beadle
AWC/2009021029706/August 2011

Beadle used an answer key to complete a state insurance continuing education (CE) exam.

Certain states began requiring financial advisors to complete a long-term care (LTC) CE course and exam before selling LTC insurance products to customers who reside in those states. Beadle was advised that he would be required to complete the LTC CE exam for a particular state before he was able to complete the sale of a policy to a colleague’s relative. Beadle received an email from a wholesaler that included a copy of the state’s LTC CE exam questions, with the answers filled in by hand. Beadle used the answer key to complete the state’s LTC CE exam.

Dennis Osborn Beadle: Fined $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Continuing Education    Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Jacen Darrel Work (Principal)
AWC/2009021029621/August 2011

Work requested and received the answer key for a state’s LTC CE exam and distributed it to a financial advisor outside of his member firm.

Certain states began implementing a LTC CE requirement that obligated financial advisors to complete a LTC CE course and exam before selling LTC insurance products to customers who resided in that state. In order to help financial advisors obtain the LTC CE requirement, Work’s firm provided them with vouchers that allowed financial advisors to take the CE exams for free through a specific company. In addition to providing financial advisors with vouchers, certain firm employees improperly created, requested, received and distributed the answer keys for state LTC CE exams.

Jacen Darrel Work (Principal): Fined $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing    Continuing Education     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
July 2011
Bryan C. McCabe
AWC/2009021029617/July 2011
McCabe requested and received answer keys to state insurance LTC CE examinations and distributed them to other employees at his member firm.
Bryan C. McCabe : Fined $5,000; Suspended 10 business days
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Catherine Laura Baker
AWC/2009021029618/July 2011

Baker requested, received and distributed answer keys for long-term care (LTC) continuing education (CE) exams to member firm representatives, and asked other firm representatives to distribute LTC CE answer keys to outside financial advisors.

Certain states implemented an LTC CE requirement that obligated financial advisors to complete an LTC CE course and exam before selling LTC insurance products, including the product Baker sold, to customers who resided in that state. In order to help financial advisors obtain the LTC CE requirement, Baker’s firm provided them with vouchers that allowed financial advisors to take CE exams for free through a specific company. In addition to providing financial advisors with the vouchers, certain firm employees improperly created, requested, received and distributed answer keys for state LTC CE exams.

Catherine Laura Baker : Fiend $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
John Stultz Poland
AWC/2010023613401/July 2011

Poland allowed a representative of a non-FINRA member insurance company to improperly assist him in completing a state insurance LTC CE exam.

The representative sat with Poland for half of the time it took him to complete the exam, and the two discussed the topics covered on the exam, and as a result, Poland received assistance on some of the answers on the exam. After completing the exam, Poland completed an exam certification form/declaration of compliance, and despite having received assistance on the exam, he signed the form and inaccurately certified that he completed the exam without assistance from any outside source.

John Stultz Poland : Fined $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing    Continuing Education     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Shaun Michael Donahue
AWC/2009021029619/July 2011

Donahue requested, received and improperly distributed the answer key for a state LTC CE examination to a financial advisor outside his member firm.

Certain states began requiring financial advisors to successfully complete an LTC CE examination before selling long-term care products to retail customers. The firm authorized its wholesalers to give financial advisors vouchers from a company, which the financial advisors could use to take the LTC CE examinations without charge. Donahue was an internal wholesaler at a firm who supported the selling efforts of external wholesalers who marketed an insurance product to financial advisors at financial service firms. Firm employees, other than Donahue, created answer keys for the company’s LTC CE examinations for various states, and distributed them to other firm employees.

Shaun Michael Donahue : Fiend $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
June 2011
Oscar Tomas Ortiz III
2009019460001/June 2011

Ortiz took and failed the Series 63 examination several times, and shortly after becoming employed with his member firm, he told the firm that he had passed the Series 63 exam. When the firm questioned Ortiz about his claim to have passed the Series 63 exam, he provided the firm with a photocopy of a fabricated score report that purported to establish his passing grade on the Series 63 exam.

Also, Ortiz provided the firm with information and documents through which he falsely represented his college credentials.

Oscar Tomas Ortiz III : Barred
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment
You might think that this is an oddball case -- after all, what's the point of lying about passing an exam when you failed it and that failure is a matter of record?  Hey, look at this article I wrote in 2006 that sets out a number of similar and equally puzzling exam violations: http://registeredrep.com/mag/finance_cheaters_prosper/
Philip Kenneth Mahler (Principal)
AWC/2009017244601/June 2011

Mahler improperly created answer keys to state insurance continuing education (CE) exams a company administered.

The company’s president approached Mahler on different occasions and offered to provide him with answers to the company’s CE exams. The president provided Mahler with the answers to the CE exams over the phone or by handing copies of the answers to Mahler, and Mahler used these answers to create answer keys for the exams.

Mahler improperly distributed the answer keys to an employee at his member firm and to multiple registered representatives outside of his firm. On multiple occasions, while he was an external wholesaler, Mahler provided assistance to non-firm registered representatives while they were taking a state annuity examination for CE credit. Mahler was in the offices of some registered representatives while they were taking the annuity examination; some of these registered representatives asked Mahler to give them the answers to certain of the questions on the examination, which Mahler provided.

Mahler failed to supervise in that he gave one direct report answer keys to state insurance CE exams.

Philip Kenneth Mahler (Principal): Fiend $10,000; Suspended 4 months in all capacities; Suspended 6 months in Principal/Supervisory capacities only (to run concurrently)
Tags:  Annuities    Continuing Education    Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
May 2011
Thomas W. McMahon
AWC/2010024706201/May 2011
McMahon sat for the Uniform Investment Advisor Law (Series 65) examination, during which he possessed unauthorized materials. McMahon electronically confirmed his agreement to abide by the rules of conduct and that he would immediately turn over any personal items such as notes, formulas, study materials or electronic devices to the testing center staff. While taking the examination, McMahon possessed a page of handwritten notes, containing material relevant to the examination, underneath scratch paper that was found on his desk during the examination.
Thomas W. McMahon : Fined $5,000; Suspended 2 years
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
April 2011
Thomas Jeffery Gregory
AWC/2009021029704/April 2011
Gregory allowed an internal wholesaler at a firm to improperly assist him in completing a state-required long-term care continuing education (CE) examination. Gregory called an internal wholesaler and asked her if she could provide him with answers to questions on the long-term care CE examination for a state. The wholesaler provided him with answers to the examination over the phone while he was completing the examination online.
Thomas Jeffery Gregory : Fiend $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Continuing Education
March 2011
Kyle Egress
AWC/2009021029705/March 2011

Certain states began requiring financial advisors to successfully complete a long-term care (LTC) continuing education (CE) course before selling LTC insurance products to retail customers. Egress allowed an individual to improperly complete an LTC CE exam for him in a state in which he had a prospect who was interested in an LTC product. The individual took the exam for Egress using identification information received from Egress, which included his social security number, insurance license number and expiration date, and address.

The prospect never purchased the insurance product through Egress.

Kyle Egress : Fined $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment
All that and the trade blew up. What a waste.
February 2011
Carson Jay Woods
AWC/2009021029616/February 2011
Certain states implemented a LTC CE requirement that obligated financial advisors to complete a LTC CE course and exam before selling LTC insurance products.In order to assist financial advisors with the LTC CE requirement, Woods created an answer key for one state exam, distributed the answers for the exam to other firm representatives and distributed a portion of the answers for the exam to a non-firm employee.
Carson Jay Woods : Fiend $5,000; Suspended 60 days.
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Patrick Cissne
AWC/2009021029615/February 2011
Certain states implemented a long-term care (LTC) continuing education (CE) requirement that obligated financial advisors to complete a LTC CE course and exam before selling LTC products to customers who resided in that state. To assist financial advisors with the LTC CE requirement, Cissne requested and received the answers for one state exam from member firm representatives, distributed the answers to the exam to other firm representatives and distributed the answers to outside financial advisors on several occassions. Cissne received and distributed the answers for another state exam to an outside financial advisor on one occasion.
Patrick Cissne: Fined $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
January 2011
Andrew Thomas Wrigley
AWC/2009021029614/January 2011
Certain states implemented an LTC CE requirement that obligated financial advisors to complete an LTC CE course and exam before selling LTC insurance products. In order to assist financial advisors with the LTC CE requirement, Wrigley provided them with vouchers to take CE exams for free through a company. Wrigley requested, received and distributed an answer key for one of the state exams to an outside financial advisor, and asked another member firm representative to request, receive and distribute an answer key for the state exam to an outside financial advisor.
Andrew Thomas Wrigley: Fined $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
NAME REDACTED
AWC/2009021029703/January 2011
Certain states began requiring financial advisors to successfully complete a long-term care (LTC) continuing education (CE) course before selling long-term insurance products to retail customers. NAME REDACTED had to successfully complete the LTC CE exam to sell an insurance product to a potential customer and had an individual come to his office and assist him in completing the exam by providing him with the answers. NAME REDACTED knew, or should have known, that the individual was improperly assisting him by giving him answers toward a CE requirement.
NAME REDACTED : Fined $5,000; Suspended 1 month
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Continuing Education
Bill Singer's Comment
Name redacted at the sole discretion of RRBDLAW.com
UBS Financial Services Inc.
AWC/2009017976301/January 2011

UBS Financial Service's registration tracking materials identified them as needing qualification examinations, but the firm did not

  • did not take the necessary steps to have the employees obtain the requisite registrations and
  • establish, maintain and enforce a supervisory system and/or written supervisory procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the rules and regulations applicable to the registration of principals and representatives.

The Firm's procedures did not clearly assign respective registration responsibilities between the firm’s compliance department and the business unit supervisors, which resulted in communication gaps between the departments. The firm’s compliance department was not consistent in notifying supervisors about registration issues and procedures did not provide reasonable guidance as to the specific steps needed to be taken when an individual was hired or given new responsibilities affecting their registration status.  The procedures did not require that employees be given specific deadlines for testing and other actions, or provide for reasonable follow-up and review to ensure compliance.The firm sometimes permitted representatives to delay taking required exams, contributing to registration violations.

UBS Financial Services Inc. : Censured; Fined $200,000; Required to undertake a comprehensive review and testing of its supervisory system and procedures concerning compliance with applicable laws, regulations and rules relating to registration of principals and representatives in its home office; prepare a written report within 120 days detailing its review, findings, testing and recommendations and provide a copy to FINRA; implement additional recommended systems and procedures within 90 days; and certify in writing to FINRA that it has completed its review and established systems and procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable laws, regulations and rules addressing registration of principals and representatives.
Tags:  Testing     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment
Given UBS's size and its recent legal/regulatory headaches, one would think that this basic aspect of compliance would have been under control.  Just goes to show you.
Enforcement Actions
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