David Ladin, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, a stockbroker formerly registered with Allstate Financial Services, has been fined $10,000.00 and suspended for four months from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity based upon consenting to findings that he engaged in outside business activities and entered into loan arrangements without authorization from his firm. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 2015046432001 (Mar. 23, 2017).
According to the AWC, in October of 2011, Ladin entered into an agreement with a firm customer to borrow $12,000.00 in funds, wherein Ladin documented the agreement via a promissory note which required his repayment of funds to the customer in twelve months through equal installments. Apparently, the firm’s policies disallowed Ladin from engaging in the loan arrangement with the firm customer absent Allstate’s approval. Ladin reportedly never notified Allstate regarding the loan arrangement, and lied on the firm’s annual compliance questionnaires regarding his solicitation and acceptance of the customer’s monies. Further, the funds were never fully repaid by Ladin, prompting the customer to file a customer complaint as a result. FINRA found that Ladin’s conduct in this regard was violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and 3240.
The AWC additionally stated that between July of 2011 and January of 2014, Ladin engaged in an undisclosed outside business activity, in which he served as the vice president of a promotional item import entity. Apparently, Ladin was required to report his involvement in the entity pursuant to the policies and procedures set forth by Allstate; however, the outside business activities were not disclosed by him via the firm’s compliance questionnaires. FINRA found Ladin’s conduct in this regard to be violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and 3270.
FINRA Public Disclosure reveals that on July 29, 2016, a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim involving Ladin’s conduct was settled for $180,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Ladin effected over-the-counter equity and mutual fund transactions in the customer’s account which were not suitable, placed trades in the customer’s brokerage account without authorization, and failed to repay funds to the customer pursuant to a personal loan agreement.
Ladin’s registration with Allstate Financial Services, LLC was terminated on January 21, 2014. He was registered with Cuna Brokerage Services, Inc. from January 28, 2014 to September 30, 2015, at which point he was terminated based upon allegations that he failed to make required disclosures about borrowing funds from customers when prompted via a branch audit and through annual compliance questionnaires.
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