FINRA Disciplinary Action: October 2020
Firms Fined
BGC Financial, L.P
On August 13, 2020, BGC Financial, L.P was censured, required to update its Written Supervisory Procedures (“WSP”) and fined $100,000. The Firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that it reported transactions to the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (“TRACE”) with an incorrect time of trade execution, therefore reporting transactions to TRACE that the Firm was not required to report. The Firm also failed to establish a sufficient WSP that included a review designed to detect mismatched execution times and a review designed to monitor whether or not the Firm was reporting unnecessary information to TRACE. (FINRA Case #2017055128201)
Primex Prime Electronic Execution
Primex Prime Electronic Execution, Inc. was censured and fined $40,000 after the Firm was found to have preserved inaccurate and false expense records, leading to an inaccurate general ledger and inaccurate filings of quarterly FOCUS reports. Because of the inaccurate filings on the general ledger, the Firm violated Section 17(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Exchange Act Rules 17a-3 and 17a-5. The Firm overstated its business expenses which caused errors in their books and records and inaccurate FOCUS filings. In addition, the Firm was found to respond in an untimely manner to FINRA’s requests for information. (FINRA Case #2018058286901)
Individuals Barred
Earl Quon
Earl Quon was barred from association with any FINRA member on August 18, 2020 for failing to comply with FINRA in regard to the filing of certain documents and for failing to respond to information that was requested. Quon’s member firm had opened an internal investigation of him regarding $100,000 in expense reimbursements that he received from the general agency of the Firm’s parent company. Although Quon stated that these expenses were office related, they were actually found to be personal expenses. (FINRA Case #2019061251501)
Forouzan Pooladi
On August 12, 2020 an AWC was issued in which Forouzan Pooladi was barred from association with any FINRA member after refusing to produce information or documents that were requested by FINRA during an investigation conducted. The investigation began after a Uniform Termination Notice for Securities Industry Registration (“Form U5”) was submitted from her previous member firm. The Form U5 stated that Pooladi was terminated for conducting transactions under the currency transaction reporting threshold, which violated an affiliate bank’s policy. The U5 also indicated that Pooladi performed an affiliate bank transaction between a business customer and her husband’s personal bank account. (FINRA Case #2019064174601)
Individuals Suspended
John Pace McConkie
John Pace McConkie was fined $5,000 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for a total of two months. McConkie was found to have electronically signed account applications and consented to a brokerage-to-advisory change form on behalf of a senior colleague who did not have knowledge of the actions. According to the findings, the senior colleague did not have a Series 65 license at the time and could not sign the form himself. McConkie did not sign any forms on behalf of any customers. (FINRA Case #2019063585501)
Serge Parakhnevich
Serge Parakhnevich was fined $7,500 and suspended from association with any FINRA member for 45 days. Parakhnevich was found to have executed trades in a customer account without prior approval from the customer or his member Firm’s approval of the account as discretionary. However, the findings stated that the customer was generally aware of the activity that was happening in his account. Additionally, Parakhnevich completed and submitted compliance questionnaires that consisted of falsely answered questions regarding whether he handled customer accounts on a discretionary basis. (FINRA Case #2019062329901)