Jason Lee Seale III of Novato California a stockbroker and investment adviser representative of American Wealth Management Inc. has been fined $5,000.00 and suspended from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity founded on findings that unauthorized transactions were executed in the customer’s account by Seale when he was associated with American Wealth Management. Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent No. 2019063334201 (Aug. 11, 2021).
According to the AWC, between February of 2016 and December of 2018, Seale executed 60 trades in American Wealth Management customer accounts. Seale made trades using discretion rather than by contacting clients and getting pre-trade confirmation. Four customers did not provide any written permission for Seale to place trades on a discretionary basis in their accounts. The AWC also indicated that Seale was required to have the securities broker dealer’s permission to make trades in customer accounts using discretion, but he did not receive any written authorization from the firm to treat those accounts as discretionary accounts.
FINRA stated that a compliance questionnaire had been completed by Seale in 2016 and submitted to the firm. That questionnaire falsely reflected Seale’s activities as he stated that he had not exercised discretion in customer accounts and would not do so prior to getting permission from American Wealth Management.
Seale violated FINRA Rule 2010 and National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) Rule 2510(b).
This is not the first time that Seale has been sanctioned by FINRA for his activities at American Wealth Management. He was fined $7,500.00 and suspended from associating with any FINRA member based on findings that Seale provided nine customers with misleading and unbalanced investment information which precluded AMW customers from having the required information to make a proper decision on the investments.
According to the AWC, the documents did not contain important disclosures which were required by FINRA rules. The materials were also provided to customers before Seale received any permission from American Wealth Management. He violated NASD Conduct Rules 2210 and 2110 as well as IM-2210-1 for this reason.
Seale has been identified in eight customer initiated investment related disputes regarding accusations of his wrongdoing while employed by securities broker dealers including Raymond James Financial Services and American Wealth Management. FINRA Public Disclosure shows that a customer initiated investment related NASD arbitration claim regarding Seale’s activities was resolved for $100,000.00 in damages supported by allegations that the customer’s account was churned, and that Seale provided unsuitable recommendations to them in regard to mutual funds and over-the-counter equities for their Raymond James Financial Services account.
Another customer initiated investment related complaint concerning Seale’s conduct was settled for $118,000.00 in damages based on accusations that the customer was improperly sold an annuity which contained inferior death benefit features. Seale is referenced in a different customer initiated investment related written complaint where the customer sought $260,000.00 in damages founded on allegations of them receiving bad investment advice and misleading information from Seale concerning preferred stocks.
Another customer filed an investment related complaint involving Seale’s activities in which the customer requested compensatory damages supported by accusations that their investment instructions were not followed by Seale concerning the sale of stocks and equities from their account at American Wealth Management. Seale is the subject of an additional customer initiated investment related written complaint which was resolved for $11,500.00 in damages based upon allegations of Facebook stock transactions conflicting with the customer’s investment objectives and risk tolerance.
Seale has been registered with American Wealth Management since January 7, 2002 and registered with AWM as investment adviser representative since November 21, 2013.
