Davidson recommended and participated in securities transactions outside the scope of his employment with his member firm when he recommended that clients, nearly all of whom were firm customers, participate in a managed foreign currency exchange-trading program; these clients invested $2,682,518.19, for which he received $3,894.64 in compensation for the referrals.
Davidson did not provide prior written notice, or any notice at all, to the firm of his involvement with the transactions, nor was the firm aware of Davidson’s recommendations and referrals until two months after his resignation when a customer complained about her losses. The clients Davidson referred to the securities transactions lost more than $2.4 million of the approximately $2.68 million they had invested in the managed foreign currency exchange-trading program.
Davidson signed a customer’s name to multiple account-related documents without her knowledge or consent.