Hal Irving Marcus, of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a stockbroker with Citigroup Global Markets, Inc., was fined $5,000.00 and suspended from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member firm in any capacity after consenting to findings that he engaged in the unauthorized discretionary trading in customer accounts. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 2015045099601 (Aug 3, 2016).
According to the AWC, on January 7, 2015, while associated with Citigroup Global Markets, Marcus had effected forty-eight separate transactions in one of his customer’s accounts, with all trades occurring in one single trading day. The customer apparently did not provide Marcus with any prior authorization for him to engage in the transactions. Further, the AWC reported that Citigroup had not allowed the customer’s account to be discretionary.
FINRA found that Marcus’ unauthorized trading was conduct violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and NASD Conduct Rule 2510(b). Prior to FINRA’s disciplinary action against Marcus, Citigroup terminated him for his misconduct on March 12, 2015, after alleging that the client did not approve of the trades, and concerns were additionally raised regarding whether such trades were suitable for the client.
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