Michael Eric Johnson of Medford Oregon a stockbroker formerly employed by LPL Financial LLC has been barred from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity founded on findings that Johnson failed to cooperate with a FINRA investigation into accusations of his improper acquisition of customer accounts and designation as beneficiary on a customer’s account. Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent No. 2019061408701 (August 16, 2019).
According to the AWC, FINRA received information from LPL Financial indicating that Johnson was terminated by the securities broker dealer on January 29, 2019 which was around the time that he was under suspicion of improperly taking over another stockbroker’s accounts. FINRA also revealed that Johnson was discharged by subsequent securities broker dealer, United Planners’ Financial Services of America, supported by allegations of Johnson impermissibly being listed as a beneficiary of a customer’s accounts.
The AWC stated that on July 11, 2019, Johnson was forwarded a request from FINRA personnel which called upon him to provide documentation and information to the regulator by August 1, 2019 in order to be compliant with FINRA Rule 8210. FINRA indicated that on July 31, 2019, Johnson’s legal counsel informed FINRA personnel that its requests would not be honored by Johnson. In fact, no information or documentation had been provided by Johnson to meet FINRA’s requests under Rule 8210. FINRA found Johnson’s conduct violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and 8210.
