Joan Marie Larsen, of Freehold, New Jersey, has been barred from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity based upon consenting to findings that she failed to cooperate in a FINRA investigation into allegations that she accepted an unauthorized loan from a customer. Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent, No. 20150478066-01 (Feb. 6, 2017).
According to the AWC, on November 21, 2014, Larsen entered into a loan arrangement with one of the firm’s elderly customers whose account Larsen was the assigned representative of, in which Larsen received $50,000.00 in monies. The AWC revealed that a promissory note was signed and notarized by Larsen, in which the principal was promised by Larsen to be repaid to the customer by December 31, 2014. The AWC stated that $47,000.00 of the $50,000.00 had not been repaid.
Additionally, the AWC revealed that the firm’s procedures did not allow for Larsen to engage in the loan transaction with the customer. Consequently, FINRA found Larsen’s conduct of accepting the loan to be violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and 3240.
The AWC further revealed that on December 22, 2016, Larsen was sent a letter from FINRA, based upon Rule 8210, which called upon Larsen to provide recorded testimony concerning her loan transaction. Yet, a day prior to her scheduled testimony, Larsen reached out to FINRA personnel to state that she would not ever be making an appearance before FINRA personnel to testify. FINRA found that Larsen’s failure to cooperate in this regard was violative of FINRA Rules 2010 and 8210.
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