Gregory John Lane of Belleville Illinois a stockbroker formerly employed by Raymond James Associates Inc. has been barred from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity supported by findings that Lane declined to comply with requests made by FINRA as part of its investigation into Lane’s possible mishandling of trust assets. Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent No. 2018058362501 (June 27, 2019).
According to FINRA Public Disclosure, Lane was terminated by Raymond James Associates Inc. on April 2, 2018, founded on allegations of Lane having misused assets belonging to a trust, wherein Lane inappropriately entered into real property transactions and failed to follow the instructions laid out in the trust concerning the distributions of the trust assets. Apparently, an investigation into Lane’s activities had been launched by FINRA upon Raymond James notifying the regulator about Lane being permitted to resign after the firm suspected him of engaging in wrongful conduct.
The AWC stated that the counsel who Lane hired had been provided a letter from FINRA, who, under Rule 8210, instructed Lane to furnish information and documentation to the regulator no later than March 29, 2019. The AWC stated Lane’s counsel also received a request from FINRA on March 18, 2019 which instructed Lane to make an appearance before the regulator to provide recorded testimony about his activities. The AWC indicated that Lane received proper warning about the consequences of not complying. Particularly, Lane was made aware that his failure to provide the information or documentation, or Lane’s failure to testify, would be grounds for Lane to be possibly barred by FINRA in all capacities.
Evidently, on March 18, 2019, Lane’s counsel reported to FINRA that Lane rejected FINRA’s requests. Ultimately, there was no cooperation on Lane’s part in the FINRA investigation. FINRA found Lane’s failure to comply with FINRA during the investigation to be violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and 8210.
FINRA Public Disclosure additionally reveals that Lane is the subject of a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim which was resolved for $30,000.00 in damages supported by accusations that unfounded statements were made to the customer by Lane in regard to a variable annuity, and the variable annuity sold to the customer was not suitable given the customer’s objectives for investing or the customer’s financial profile.
