Joel Martin Weiner, of Boyton Beach, Florida, a stockbroker formerly associated with LaSalle Street Securities L.L.C., has been permanently barred from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity based upon consenting to findings that he engaged in unauthorized outside business activities. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 2015044783402 (Dec. 21, 2016).
According to the AWC, in 2007, pursuant to Weiner’s recommendations, a LaSalle customer placed monies with an entity that was in the business of facilitating loans to new and small entities. This entity was reportedly owned by one of the firm’s registered representatives that Weiner supervised, and was operated outside the auspices of LaSalle St Securities.
The AWC stated that the customer went from placing $300,000.00 to $2,600,000.00 in the later part of 2014. In addition to making the recommendation, Weiner reportedly assisted the customer in creating a banking account for purposes of funding the high-risk loans. Apparently, Weiner also had authority to determine whether funds were to be committed, and was a signatory on the customer’s account.
Moreover, from approximately 2007 to 2014, Weiner generated fees totaling $65,000.00 in return for assisting the customer with generating business. Eventually, the customer ended its operations of loan-funding in 2014, at which point the customer required that outstanding loans be repaid. The AWC stated that a mere fifty percent of the outstanding loans have paid back as of February 2015.
The AWC revealed that LaSalle St Securities was never provided any notification from Weiner regarding the compensation he generated from the outside business. FINRA found that Weiner’s conduct was violative of NASD Rule 3030 due to him not providing LaSalle prompt notification of his compensation. Additionally, Weiner’s conduct was found by FINRA to be violative of FINRA Rule 3270 due to Weiner not providing written notice to LaSalle St Securities prior to him receiving the compensation. Consequently, FINRA found that Weiner’s conduct was violative of NASD Rule 2110 as well as FINRA Rule 2010.
The AWC further revealed that Weiner lied on several occasions within compliance questionnaires, in which he indicated that he had not been in possession of accounts outside LaSalle’s auspices. Particularly, Weiner omitted in each of the compliance questionnaires, which dated back to 2009, that he did not have control over the aforementioned customer’s loans. FINRA found that Weiner’s conduct in this regard was violative of FINRA Rule 2010.
FINRA Public Disclosure reveals that on July 28, 2015, Weiner became named in a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim, in which the customer requested $2,329,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Weiner effected unsuitable investments in the customer’s account from November of 2013 to March of 2014.
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