A Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) was recently accepted by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA’s) Department of Enforcement from Adrian S. Lauer. Mr. Lauer was accused of failing to disclose outside business activities on his Form U4 and to his employer. Specifically, Mr. Lauer was accused of violating FINRA Rules 2010 (Standards of Commercial Honor and Principles of Trade) and 3270 (Outside Business Activities of Registered Persons).
It was alleged that from April 2011 through March 2014, Mr. Lauer participated in a 401(k) advisory business and worked as a webmaster for a college alumni club while employed at Securities America, Inc. The AWC detailed that Mr. Lauer failed to disclose his participation in the advisory business, but later sought approval from the firm. It was alleged that although the firm denied the request regarding the advisory business, Mr. Lauer also continued to participate in this business. The AWC further detailed that while Mr. Lauer sought approval of his college alumni club activities after he had already begun participating, the firm informed him of the steps he needed to take for the firm to grant his request but he never followed the steps, still choosing to participate in the outside business activity.
The AWC detailed that as a result of his violations, Mr. Lauer consented to a 60-day suspension and a $5,000 fine.
Malecki Law has successfully represented many investors who became embroiled in brokers’ outside business and outside securities activities that were performed away from their employing brokers. If you believe you have suffered losses as a result of questionable actions that took place in your securities account, or as a result of questionable investments that may or may not have been placed through a broker-dealer, please contact us immediately for a confidential consultation.