Steve Jun Lu of Altadena California a stockbroker formerly registered with JP Morgan Securities LLC has been barred from associating with any Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member in any capacity based upon consenting to findings that he lied to the securities broker dealer about his relationships and fiduciary responsibilities with an elderly and disabled customer. Letter of Acceptance Waiver and Consent No. 2018058642601 (Apr. 7, 2020).
According to the AWC, on March 17, 2018, an eighty-seven year old retiree named MP met with Lu when MP visited his branch office. Four days later, Lu clamed to another broker that MP was a family friend who intended on making him the trustee of the customer’s accounts. Lu escorted MP to an attorney who drafted a power of attorney naming Lu as the one responsible for handling the customer’s financial affairs. The AWC stated that MP also set up a trust and had named Lu as a co-trustee which gave Lu authority to withdrawal from the customer’s trust account. FINRA stated that Lu was slated to receive seventy-five percent of the assets of the trust when MP died.
Written supervisory procedures implemented by JP Morgan Securities prohibited Lu from either being a personal representative of a customer’s estate or the trustee of trust established for the benefit of a customer when that customer was not a member of the stockbroker’s family. FINRA stated that Lu lied to JP Morgan Securities and made multiple misrepresentations about the customer. He falsely told stockbrokers and other employees of JP Morgan that the customer was a close family friend. Lu then lied to his bank supervisor about being granted permission to establish a trust account for MP.
Lu was subject of an internal investigation by JP Morgan Securities regarding his approach to establishing accounts for MP. The stockbroker failed to cooperate in that internal investigation and had resigned.
FINRA stated that the power of attorney and trust agreement were eventually revoked by a guardian who was appointed after JP Morgan Securities brought the matter to authorities. The AWC stated that MP had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease months after meeting with the stockbroker. FINRA determined that Lu’s conduct was violative of FINRA Rule 2010.
Lu was terminated by JP Morgan on April 13, 2018 based upon allegation of his misconduct with regard to the elderly customer.
