Matthew Thomas Higgins, a stockbroker associated with Barclays Capital Inc., located in New York, New York, has been sanctioned by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for selling away or engaging in private securities transactions without prior written notice to Barclays Capital in violation of FINRA Rules 3280 and 2010 by . AWC No. 2022076346501.
These transactions, which occurred in 2018, included soliciting investments totaling $350,000.00 for a crypto asset investment fund and a crypto asset mining company that Higgins co-founded. The activities consisted of introducing the investment opportunities to individuals, answering their questions, providing offering documents, and facilitating the transactions.
The first set of activities occurred in April and May 2018, when Higgins solicited two individuals to invest a total of $150,000.00 in partnership interests issued by a crypto asset investment fund. This fund was co-founded by Higgins and focused on pooled investments in crypto assets. Later, in October 2018, Higgins solicited $200,000.00 from one of the same individuals and another investor in promissory notes issued by a crypto asset mining company that Higgins also co-founded. This company offered services such as hosting, servicing, and repairing crypto asset mining equipment. Despite actively facilitating these transactions, Higgins failed to provide Barclays Capital with the required prior written notice detailing the proposed transactions and his role in them.
FINRA determined that Higgins’s participation in these private securities transactions violated Rule 3280, which requires brokers to disclose and receive prior written approval from their firms before engaging in securities transactions outside the regular scope of their employment. Additionally, his actions violated Rule 2010, which obligates brokers to uphold high standards of commercial honor and equitable principles of trade. As a result of these violations, FINRA resolved the case through a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (AWC), which imposed sanctions including a three-month suspension from all FINRA-member capacities and a $5,000.00 civil penalty. The suspension began January 6, 2025, and will conclude on April 5, 2025.
Higgins’s career spans over two decades, with previous employment at Goldman, Sachs Co. from 2015 to 2016. He has been associated with Barclays Capital since January 2018. Throughout his career, Higgins has held various positions, including those of vice president and director, and has operated in locations such as New York, NY, and Santa Monica, CA.
