man pocketing cash

William H. Merriam IV recently signed a letter of acceptance, waiver and consent (“AWC”) with FINRA agreeing to be barred from the securities industry.

Merriam joined Merrill Lynch in June 2014 to work in the Jacksonville FL branch office of Merrill Lynch. He worked with his father.

In January 2017 Merriam voluntarily resigned from Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch filed his U-5 termination notice after his resignation and indicated that at the time of his resignation he was under internal review for conduct involving the forgery of customer signatures on account documents.

FINRA commenced a regulatory inquiry into Merriam’s actions. In the course of that investigation, FINRA requested that Merriam appear to give testimony in an on the record interview (“OTR”). Merriam, through his attorney, indicated that he refused to appear before FINRA to give testimony.

Such refusal is a clear violation of FINRA rules.

Merriam agreed to be barred from the securities industry based on his failure to cooperate in FINRA’s investigation of the forgery allegations.

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