Enforcement Actions
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
CASES OF NOTE
2010
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.
October 2010
Matthew Norman O’Brien
AWC/2009018063001/October 2010

O’Brien

  • signed the name of a customer of his member firm on a Letter of Authorization form and then used the form to effect a transfer of $3,000 from the customer’s brokerage account to O’Brien’s personal bank account without the customer’s knowledge or approval; 
  • borrowed $13,000 from the customer, who was not related to O’Brien and contrary to his member firm’s written procedures prohibiting its registered persons from entering into lending agreements with customers unless the customer was an immediate family member;
  • executed a trade in the customer’s account without the customer’s knowledge or consent; and
  • failed to respond to FINRA requests for information and documents.
Matthew Norman O’Brien : Barred
Tags:  Borrowing    LOA     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
August 2010
Jarem Barry Bingham
AWC/2009017621401/August 2010
Bingham gave a member firm customer $4,421 to compensate her for tax consequences incurred as a result of his recommendation that the customer liquidate a variable annuity and purchase mutual funds with the proceeds. Bingham acted without his firm’s knowledge or authorization when sharing in the customer’s loss, and his firm’s procedures prohibited representatives from paying or offering to pay restitution to a customer. Bingham loaned customers approximately $1,050 because of delays in processing their withdrawal requests, which the firm’s procedures prohibited.
Jarem Barry Bingham : Fined $10,000; Suspended 15 business days
Tags:  Guaranteeing Against Losses    Loan    Variable Annuity     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
March 2010
Thomas James Sinclair
AWC/2008016123101/March 2010
Registered Principal Sinclair misappropriated $17,500 from a former customer’s account by fabricating Letters of Authorization (LOAs) without the customer’s consent or authorization, and submitted the LOAs to his former firm and requested that the funds be wired from the former customer’s account to the accounts of a current customer and friends.
Thomas James Sinclair: Barred
Tags:  LOA     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
Bill Singer's Comment

Talk about your sophisticated securities fraud.  Lemme see if I can figger this one out.  I go online. Find some LOA through Google. Copy it to my word program. Go into that LOA and add my customer's name and address. Print out the document and forge the client's signature.  Send that piece of garbage to my firm and -- presto -- my firm will wire five-figures of cash from the victimized client's account to my friends' accounts.

Why the hell do folks bother wearing masks and carrying guns into banks. This is like no muss or fuss at all.

February 2010
Max Jack Safdie (Principal)
OS/2007009440601/February 2010
Safdie made misrepresentations to a third-party lending institution in order to assist a family member in obtaining a loan.
Max Jack Safdie (Principal): No Fine in light of financial status; Suspended 30 business days in all capacities
Tags:  Loan     |    In: Cases of Note : FINRA
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