Robert Steven Beck, of Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, a stockbroker formerly registered with Morgan Stanley, has been fined $5,000.00 and suspended from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member firm in any capacity after consenting to findings that he effected discretionary trades in a customer’s account. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 2014042560001 (Dec. 13, 2016).
According to the AWC, from November of 2013 to June of 2014, while Beck was registered with Morgan Stanley, he effected ten trades in the brokerage account of a firm customer. Apparently, the trades were effected on a discretionary basis and had not been authorized by the customer in writing. Morgan Stanley reportedly never deemed the customer’s account to be approved for purposes of discretionary trading.
The AWC additionally revealed that a compliance questionnaire had been submitted by Beck to Morgan Stanley in April of 2014, in which Beck claimed that he never exercised discretionary authority in a customer’s account. Subsequently, Morgan Stanley terminated Beck on May 12, 2016; albeit based upon allegations of Beck’s outside business activities rather than discretionary trading. FINRA ultimately found that Beck’s conduct was violative of FINRA Rule 2010 and NASD Rule 2510(b).
FINRA Public Disclosure reveals that Beck has been named in three customer arbitrations. Particularly, on June 22, 1999, a customer filed an investment related arbitration claim concerning Beck’s conduct, in which the customer requested $6,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Beck, while registered with First Union Capital Markets Corp., made unreasonable recommendations and misrepresentations to the customer concerning equity investments in Hybrid Networks.
On March 22, 2001, another customer filed an investment related arbitration action concerning Beck’s activities, in which the customer sought $80,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Beck effected unsuitable investments in the customer’s account, causing the customer to suffer investment losses. Subsequently, on September 8, 2014, a customer initiated investment related arbitration claim regarding Beck’s actions was resolved for $35,000.00 in damages based upon allegations that Beck excessively traded in the customer’s account.
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