Muhammad Rehmatullah Wahdy, of San Francisco, California, a stockbroker formerly registered with Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner Smith Incorporated, has been fined $10,000.00 and suspended for 15 months from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity because Wahdy failed to disclose outside business activities and took part in a private securities transactions or “selling away.” Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent No. 2023078977001 (April 11, 2025).
According to the AWC, Merrill Lynch submitted a termination notice in June 2023, explaining that Wahdy had been discharged for allegedly failing to report a business activity outside his role at the firm. This prompted FINRA’s review of his conduct at Merrill Lynch and at previous employers.
Wahdy had been running an investment advisory firm since 2015, even before joining Ameriprise in 2019. He was the head of the firm, handling business operations, hiring, customer advice, and internal communications. He continued to operate the advisory firm while registered with Ameriprise, Wells Fargo, and Merrill Lynch, and received a total of about $148,000.00 in fees from that business between 2019 and 2023.
Each of those firms had policies requiring approval before engaging in any work outside of the firm. Wahdy asked Ameriprise and Wells Fargo for permission to continue with his advisory firm, but both firms denied the requests. Despite that, Wahdy stayed involved in the business. He also submitted internal firm forms saying he had no outside business interests, which was not true. At Merrill Lynch, he didn’t ask for permission and falsely certified in 2022 that he had no outside business dealings. Merrill Lynch later found out about the activity.
While at Wells Fargo in 2021, Wahdy created and managed an investment fund along with a limited partnership that ran the fund. He took on full control of this setup, including deciding on investments and finding investors. That same year, he sold a $250,000.00 stake in the fund to an individual who was not a customer of his brokerage firm. He expected to be paid through management fees from the fund.
The AWC stated that Wahdy did not notify Wells Fargo about the fund or request approval to offer the investment, which is required under FINRA rules for private transactions. Instead, he submitted firm compliance paperwork falsely indicating he hadn’t been involved in any such activities. Wells Fargo never approved the sale or his participation in the investment offering.
FINRA found that Wahdy violated FINRA Rules 3270 and 3280, which cover outside business activities and private securities transactions, as well as Rule 2010, which covers ethical standards.
Wahdy was associated with Ameriprise Financial Services LLC in Palo Alto, California from March 14, 2019 to April 14, 2020. He was associated with Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC in San Francisco, California from May 6, 2020 to August 26, 2021, Casey Securities LLC in Greenbrae, California from March 16, 2022 to June 2, 2022, and Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner Smith Incorporated in San Francisco, California from December 20, 2022 to June 7, 2023.
